Church Commissioners

Churches: Georgeham

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what funding is available for Georgeham Parish Council to apply for to repair the parish church grounds and supporting boundary walls.

Andrew Selous: If the churchyard is open, then the Parochial Church Council is responsible for maintenance and upkeep. If it has been closed for burials by Order in Council, the statutory responsibility falls to the Local Authority unless a local arrangement has been reached. I will ask the diocese to make contact with the Parochial Church Council and Local Authority to see if they can offer advice.Local Authorities are able to make small grants available to Parochial Church Councils to support the maintenance and upkeep of a churchyard, whether open or closed. The Church Commissioners are grateful to the Government for its clarification of the law in the recent Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, which now enables Local Authorities like all other faith communities to give grants to parish churches who need support with the maintenance of their buildings and fabric.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Deployment

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many regiments were active in the (a) Army and (b) Royal Marines in each year since 2010.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many regiments in the (a) Army and (b) Royal Marines have been disbanded since 2010.

James Heappey: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Army

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) infantry, (b) artillery, (c) armoured and (d) support battalions there were in the Army on 1 January in each of the last eight years.

James Heappey: The table below show the formations of the Army from 2016-2023. This was extracted from the Government website (Table 6 for the Army):UK_Armed_Forces_Equipment_and_Formations_2023_tables.xlsx (live.com) Land Formations of UK Armed Forces  Combat Role and arm/corps20162017201820192020202120222023Combat Forces6161636363636263 Infantry4646484848484848Regular Army Battalions3232323232323232Army Reserves Battalions1414161616161616 Royal Armoured Corps1515151515151515Regular Army Regiments1111111111111111Army Reserves Regiments44444444Combat Support Forces6262626364646664 Royal Artillery1920202020202020Regular Army Regiments1414141414141414Army Reserves Regiments56666666 Royal Engineers1817171818181818Regular Army Regiments1414141414141414Army Reserves Regiments43344444 Royal Signals1616161617171717Regular Army Regiments1212121213131313Army Reserves Regiments44444444 Intelligence Corps99999999Regular Army Regiments44444444Army Reserves Regiments55555555Combat Service Support7171716666666762 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers1414141111111212Regular Army Battalions88888899Army Reserves Battalions66633333 Royal Logistic Corps 2525252525252525Regular Army Regiments1313131313131313Army Reserves Regiments1212121212121212 Royal Army Medical Corps2626262424242419Regular Army Regiments11111199997Army Reserves Regiments1515151515151512 Royal Military Police66666666Regular Army Regiments66666666Army Reserves Regiments00000000Corps, Division & Brigade HQ1817171717171717 NATO Corps HQ11111111 Division / District HQ66666666Deployable22222222Non-deployable44444444 Brigade HQ1110101010101010Deployable77777777Non-deployable43333333

Armed Forces: Dental Services

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were waiting for dental care as of 25 January 2024, broken down by service.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As of 1 December 2023, which is the latest available data, 26,625 UK Armed Forces personnel were categorised as NATO Category 2 or 3, meaning that they require either preventative or interventive treatment to achieve optimal dental fitness. The table below shows a breakdown of these numbers by service. NATO Category 2NATO Category 3All15,08411,541Army9,5887,702Royal Navy12,4531,717RAF3,0432,122 1 Includes Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel.

Veterans: Identity Cards

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veteran ID cards have been delivered to veterans in each month since January 2023.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veteran ID cards have been delivered to veterans in total as of 17 January 2024.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans ID cards have been delivered to veterans as part of phase 2 of the roll out as of 17 January 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The below table shows how many Veteran recognition cards have been despatched through Phase 1 each month since January 2023: MonthNo. of card despatchedJan 231,123Feb 231,613Mar 231,438Apr 231,593May 231,510Jun 231,631Jul 231,443Aug 231,553Sep 231,375Oct 231,756Nov 231,706Dec 231,469Jan 241,061  As of 17 January 2024, in Phase 1, 80,240 Veteran recognition cards have been despatched to Veterans in total. A further 6,586 cards have been despatched to Veterans as part of Phase 2 testing period of the Veteran recognition cards project.

Armed Forces Covenant

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to introduce a national protocol to provide consistent access to public services for Armed Forces families not based in one location.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Since 2011, the Armed Forces Covenant has been improving service provision to the Armed Forces community across the country. The Covenant is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, are treated fairly, wherever they are in the country. Its principles are that members of the Armed Forces community should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services, and that special provision is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most, such as the injured and the bereaved. The Covenant is deliberately designed to be flexible to ensure the relevant organisations retain the ability to take decisions about service delivery that are right for their local context and circumstances.

Ammunition: Theft

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of each ammunition type was lost from his Department's facilities in each year since 2015.

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of each munition type was (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department's facilities in each year since 2015.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The security of ammunition is taken very seriously within the Ministry of Defence (MOD), and we have robust procedures in place to deter and prevent loss and theft.Given the frequency and dynamic nature of military training, exercises and operations it is very difficult to mitigate against all risk of loss. When losses of ammunition are identified, a search will be conducted, and the loss is reported upwards. All losses and thefts of ammunition are investigated, in partnership with Ministry of Defence Police, Service Police and Home Office Police Forces as appropriate. The below table details ammunition lost and stolen from MOD Facilities from 2017-2023. This includes military establishments, ranges, training areas and on operations. It has not been possible to validate data prior to 2017 without incuring disproportionate cost.  YearAmmunition: Type QuantityLost/Stolen20235.56mm90Lost7.62mm145Lost9mm47Lost20225.56mm167Lost7.62mm625Lost9.mm40Lost4.6mm13Lost12.7mm1Lost20215.56mm884Lost7.62mm99Lost9mm117Lost20205.56mm2421Lost7.62mm1031Lost9mm76Lost4.6mm2Lost.2219Lost20195.56mm285Lost7.62mm1703Lost9mm76Lost4.6mm42Lost12.7mm10Lost.221000Stolen20185.56mm5Lost9mm17Lost4.6mm20Lost20175.56mm247Lost5.56mm1Stolen7.62mm1Lost4.6mm21Lost

Military Exercises: Injuries

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many soldiers were admitted to hospital for injuries sustained during training exercises in the UK in each year since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The below tables show the number of soldiers that were admitted to hospital for injuries sustained during training exercises, as reported by individuals and subsequently recorded by the Chain of Command on the Incident Notification System and the Defence Unified Reporting and Lessons System in each year since 2010. The Incident Notification System (INS): YearTotal2010~2011~2012~2013~2014122015~201823201912202020202127 Defence Unified Reporting and Lessons System (DURALS): YearTotal2022232023342024~ Numbers provided are single service estimates as at January 2024 and are not official Defence Statistics.  ~ donates fewer than 5 to preserve anonymity. The Incident Notification System (INS) was in service from 2002 until 2021 when it was replaced by the Defence Unified Reporting and Lessons System (DURALS). The INS relied on information being manually uploaded using Word and Excel-based forms, whereas the DURALS is a data-driven IT platform, which allows all personnel with a Defence account to report any incident using a portable electronic device such as their mobile phone.

Defence Equipment: Theft

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish a list of all (a) vehicles and (b) heavy weapons that have been reported missing from his Department's facilities in each year since 2015.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I will write to the hon. Member, and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Lasers: Weapons

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the DE&S press release entitled DE&S negotiate contracts to put lasers in hands of British Army and Royal Navy, published on 14 Sept 2021, when his Department plans to undertake the first tests of a directed energy weapon onboard a Type 23 frigate.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence announced three Directed Energy Weapons Capability Demonstrator contracts in 2021, which were designed to increase knowledge and understanding in the military on how to operate, maintain and integrate Directed Energy Weapons onto complex platforms to inform future capability decisions. These were ambitious projects in both time and scope, and the specific T23 demonstrator contract was concluded early in order to focus resource on the wider Directed Energy Weapons Programme, as outlined in the Integrated Review Refresh 2023. Live firing will be conducted from the Land based demonstrators in 2024, which will also inform Navy Programmes.

Typhoon Aircraft: Radar

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the status is of the development of the Striker II helmet for the Eurofighter Typhoon.

James Cartlidge: Striker II has completed its Preliminary Design Review and preparations are ongoing for the next phases to complete development.

Typhoon Aircraft: Radar

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the in service date is for the ECRS Mk2 radar for the Eurofighter Typhoon.

James Cartlidge: The ECRS Mk2 radar is currently forecast to achieve an initial operating capability on the Typhoon aircraft fleet by the end of the decade and opportunities to accelerate the programme continue to be explored.

Type 83 Destroyers: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the in service date is for the (a) Type 83 and (b) Future Air Dominance System.

James Cartlidge: The Future Air Dominance System (FADS) programme is in the pre-concept phase. The Type 83 warship is one component of the overall FADS system, and under current plans the First of Class platform is planned to be in service in the late 2030s.

Type 45 Destroyers: Guided Weapons

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s news story entitled Navy Missile System used to destroy Red Sea drones to be upgraded, published on 21 January 2024, what the initial operating capability date is for the enhancements to the Type 45 destroyers Sea Viper missile system.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s news story entitled Navy Missile System used to destroy Red Sea drones to be upgraded, published on 21 January 2024, which will be the first Type 45 destroyer to receive the upgrades to its Sea Viper missile system.

James Cartlidge: On current plans the Initial Operating Capability for the Sea Viper Evolution on T45 destroyers is February 2028. The first in class to receive the upgrades to its Sea Viper Evolution has not yet been nominated.

Type 45 Destroyers: Decommissioning

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the out of service date is for the Royal Navy’s fleet of Type 45 destroyers.

James Cartlidge: On current plans, the last Type 45 Destroyer will retire from service by the end of 2038.

HMS Bangor and HMS Chiddingfold

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on operations of the collision of HMS Bangor and HMS Chiddingfold.

James Cartlidge: The Royal Navy continues to ensure that it has sufficient assets available to meet its operational outputs.

Typhoon Aircraft

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Large Area Display for the Eurofighter Typhoon.

James Cartlidge: Typhoon will have incremental upgrades throughout its service life and the Ministry of Defence tracks potential options for future upgrades. The Large Area Display is a BAE Systems Private Venture (PV) project.

Lasers: Weapons

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s news story entitled Advanced future military laser achieves UK first, published on 19 January 2024, what the next steps are for the DragonFire development effort.

James Cartlidge: Commissioned by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Chief Scientific Adviser through the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Directorate and delivered by a joint Industry and Dstl team, the DragonFire Technology Demonstrator has undertaken a series of trials to develop the understanding of the potential capabilities of laser weapons. With the success of the recent trials in the Hebrides, DST and the joint team are currently evaluating the trials results and developing plans to accelerate the testing of the DragonFire laser against representative targets in more challenging scenarios. This work is done in coordination with MOD’s Complex Weapons Directed Energy Weapons Team who are looking at how Directed Energy Weapons systems can be rapidly transitioned from technology into capability on behalf of the Front-Line Commands.

Armed Forces: Carbon Emissions

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on reducing emissions in the armed forces since 2019.

James Cartlidge: Capability and Estate energy choices and resultant emissions are an integral part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) acquisition process. The MOD total annual spend on emission reduction measures cannot therefore be identified as a separate financial reporting line.

Armed Conflict: Houthis

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential risk of Houthis (a) shooting down RAF Typhoons and (b) capturing British pilots.

James Heappey: The safety of our personnel on operations is paramount. To maintain the security and safety of deployed personnel it is longstanding Government policy that we do not comment on operational Threat Assessments or Joint Personnel Recovery requirements or plans.

NATO Enlargement

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with his NATO counterparts on the expansion of the number of enhanced opportunities partners since February 2022.

James Heappey: The UK Government engages regularly with NATO Allies and Partners. NATO currently has five Enhanced Opportunity Partners (EOPs), who make significant contributions to NATO operations and have enhanced opportunities for dialogue and cooperation with Allies. Any partner can request EOP status, which must then be agreed by all NATO Allies. Most recently, NATO recognised Ukraine as an EOP. No partner has requested EOP status in the interim.

Radioactive Materials: Transport

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 24 February 2016 to Question 27158 on Radioactive Materials: Transport, how many flights were undertaken between the United States and the UK by Royal Air Force aircraft carrying Defence Nuclear Materials between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2023.

James Heappey: Between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2023, a total of 13 flights carrying Defence Nuclear Materials were undertaken.

Home Office

Elections: Disinformation

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Defending Democracy Taskforce is taking to reduce the potential threat of artificial intelligence generated deepfakes being used in elections.

Tom Tugendhat: The Government is committed to safeguarding the UK’s elections and already has established systems and processes in place, to protect the democratic integrity of the UK.DSIT is the lead department on artificial intelligence and is part of the Defending Democracy Taskforce which has a mandate to safeguard our democratic institutions and processes from the full range of threats, including digitally manipulated content. The Taskforce ensures we have a robust system in place to rapidly respond to any threats during election periods.Furthermore, the Online Safety Act places new requirements on social media platforms to swiftly remove illegal misinformation and disinformation - including artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes - as soon as they become aware of it. The Act also updates Ofcom’s statutory media literacy duty to require it to take tangible steps to prioritise the public's awareness of and resilience to misinformation and disinformation online. This includes enabling users to establish the reliability, accuracy, and authenticity of content.The new digital imprints regime, introduced by the Elections Act 2022, will also increase the transparency of digital political advertising (including artificial intelligence-generated material).Finally, the threat to democracy from artificial intelligence was discussed at the AI Safety Summit in November 2023, reinforcing the Government’s commitment to international collaboration on this shared challenge.

Hate Crime

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the Law Commission report entitled Hate crime laws: Final report, HC 942, published in December 2021, through the Criminal Justice Bill.

Laura Farris: We are grateful for the detailed consideration the Law Commission has given to its review of hate crime laws.In April 2023, the Government published a response to Recommendation 8 on misogyny as a hate crime. We will respond to the remaining recommendations later this year.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on national security.

Tom Tugendhat: While the UK Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.The UK Government has long been clear about our concerns over the malign activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The UK maintains sanctions on over 400 Iranian individuals and entities covering human rights abuses and nuclear proliferation. The Government has also imposed sanctions on the IRGC in its entirety and on several senior security and political figures in Iran, including senior commanders within the IRGC and its Basij force.The Government will continue to hold Iran and the IRGC to account. On 14 December 2023, a new sanctions regime came into force, providing the UK extensive new powers to disrupt Iran’s hostile activities in the UK and around the world.

Terrorism: Victims

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Victims of Terrorism Unit (a) completed its review into the support package provided to victims of terrorism and (b) made a draft of its findings available to Ministers; and what plans his Department has to publish the outcomes of that review.

Tom Tugendhat: In recognition of the complexities and importance of the Victims of Terrorism Review, Home Office Ministers are considering how to progress recommendations.Once this phase is complete, the Home Office will consider how to communicate the findings and next steps.

Counter-terrorism: Prisoners

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many prisoners were referred to the Prevent programme in each year since 2015.

Tom Tugendhat: Table 1: Number of referrals to the Prevent programme from HMPPS each year, 2015/16 to 2022/23Financial Year2015/162016/172017/182018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23Number of Referrals to Prevent made by HMPPS155283269297373335287267This data is taken from the annual statistical release ‘Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent programme’ which can be found at Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)HMPPS includes staff working for HM Prison and Probation Service, including Youth Offender Services. Data here has been taken from the latest Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme publication, April 2022 to March 2023. This data comes from a live database which is regularly updated and in some cases there may be a delay in a particular case being entered into the system, therefore, at any given time, the published figures may not be 100% accurate.The number of referrals reported includes individuals who had been referred more than once during the year. This information is included as each referral may not contain the same information (for example, different sector of referral or type of concern) and may not have the same outcome (for example, signposted to statutory partners, discussed at a Channel panel).

Terrorism: Criminal Investigation

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people arrested for terrorism-related activity have been released under investigation in each year since 2014.

Tom Tugendhat: Table 1: Number of persons arrested for terrorism-related activity with latest charging outcomes released without being charged, or bailed to return & released under investigation, each year from Year to September 2014 to Year to September 2022. Year to Sept 2014Year to Sept 2015Year to Sept 2016Year to Sept 2017Year to Sept 2018Year to Sept 2019Year to Sept 2020Year to Sept 2021Year to Sept 2022Released without being charged 140  175  141  273  145  128  104  83  85 Bailed to return & released under investigation 0  1  2  2  4  2  3  6  18 Prior to the June 2019 publication, those who were released under investigation were unable to be recorded separately and were recorded as 'released without charge'. From June 2019 the Home Office has published numbers on those bailed to return & released under investigation as one figure. Data presented here are based on the latest position with each case as at the date of data provision from CTPHQ Coordination Centre (23 October 2023).Therefore individuals released under investigation may have their outcome updated over time, and the numbers change accordingly. More information regarding individuals arrested and charged for terrorist-related activity can be found in the Home Office’s Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 statistics release.

Visas: Hospitality Industry

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of (a) businesses and (b) workers in the hospitality sector that will be affected by proposed increases to the minimum salary requirements for a skilled worker visa in (i) the UK and (ii) Scotland.

Tom Pursglove: Analytical work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making in this process, and an Impact Assessment will be developed in due course.

Seasonal Workers: Conditions of Employment

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2024 to Question 9608 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, what steps his Department has taken to investigate allegations of abusive practices relating to the Seasonal Worker Scheme since May 2022.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office keeps all aspects of the Seasonal Worker route under ongoing review and works closely with DEFRA to monitor the scheme to ensure operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers. This includes changes made on 12th April 2023, introducing rules ensuring seasonal workers are guaranteed a minimum number of 32 hours’ paid work each week. We have also increased UKVI compliance capacity to monitor welfare.The operators of the scheme are, and must remain, licensed by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).

Migrant Workers: Seasonal Workers

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2024 to Question 9608, what steps he is taking to improve conditions for migrant workers on the Seasonal Worker Scheme since May 2022.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office keeps all aspects of the Seasonal Worker route under ongoing review and works closely with DEFRA to monitor the scheme to ensure operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers. This includes changes made on 12th April 2023, introducing rules ensuring seasonal workers are guaranteed a minimum number of 32 hours’ paid work each week. We have also increased UKVI compliance capacity to monitor welfare.The operators of the scheme are, and must remain, licensed by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).

Asylum: Temporary Accommodation

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the average length of time asylum seekers were accommodated in (a) hostels and (b) hotels until a decision was made on their asylum application in the last 12 months.

Tom Pursglove: Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).This data is not broken down to show the length of stay for individuals.The Home Office closely monitors length of temporary stay in the contingency asylum accommodation, however, an individual’s stay is determined by a number of factors, such as overall demand and availability of suitable dispersal accommodation. Some individuals will stay for short or longer periods depending on their circumstances.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled Progress against the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations, published on 29 June 2023, if he will publish an updated report.

Chris Philp: The Government publishes a detailed bi-annual progress tracker on implementation of the Phase 1 recommendations. The next iteration is due to be published shortly.The tracker can be found on the gov.uk website under Grenfell Progress Tracker. The June 2023 tracker reported the following overall completion rates:31 of the 46 recommendations completed overall.10 out of 15 recommendations for Government (more detail on the five outstanding recommendations, which relate to evacuation, is set out below).13 out of the 14 for LFB only.1 out of the 9 for all FRSs. FRSs have, however, reported to the NFCC completion of 91% of their actions on average, but national recommendations cannot be signed off as complete until all 44 services have completed all actions in full.7 out of 8 for other bodies including other emergency services.

Asylum: Mental Health

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of (a) self-harm, (b) depression and (c) suicidal ideation have been reported by people living in government-provided asylum accommodation in (i) hotels, (ii) barges, (iii) former military sites and (iv) detention facilities and removal centres in each of the last 15 years.

Tom Pursglove: Central records on the number of cases of self-harm and suicidal ideation that have been reported in immigration removal centres (IRCs) are not held as far back as 15 years. Additionally, no central records on the number of cases of depression reported in IRCs are held. This information relates to health conditions which are treated as medical in confidence and therefore the Home Office would not necessarily know if someone in detention was experiencing depression.

Asylum

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers per capita of the general population are accommodated in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

Tom Pursglove: Data on immigration groups by devolved administration is published in table Reg_01 of the Regional and local authority data. The number of people under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the Afghan resettlement programme and the supported asylum population and the per capita figure for these three pathways combined is published. Data on the supported population does not include people who are not receiving state support (such as unsupported asylum seekers).

Asylum: Ethnic Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers there are in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland by ethnic group as of 25 January 2024.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications received is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. This data is only at national level and includes nationality breakdowns, but not ethnic breakdown.Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support by UK region is published in table Asy_D09 of the ‘Asylum support’ detailed datasets. Not all asylum seekers will require support. The data does not include location information for those who are not on support. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 30 September 2023. Data up to the end of December 2023 will be published on 29 February 2024 and data up to the end of March 2023 will be published on 23 May 2024. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Immigration: ICT

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 25 November 2022 to Question 93420, 1 December 2022 to Question 97406 and 19 October 2023 to Question 203428, by what date he expects the Atlas caseworking system will provide further information on the number of applicants having the No Recourse to Public Funds condition attached to their Leave to Remain.

Tom Pursglove: Transition of in-country casework to ATLAS is underway and will become the default caseworking system for in-country casework routes by June 2024. Following transition of in-country casework, ATLAS will therefore become the primary source of MI, including No Recourse to Public Funds, by mid-June 2024.

Asylum: Housing

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the number of asylum seekers that were affected by (a) mould and (b) other damp conditions in (i) social housing, (ii) the private rented sector and (iii) hotel accommodation in the last 12 months.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office ensures that all asylum accommodation is safe, habitable, fit for purpose and meets all regulatory requirements. Home Office accommodation providers are required to visit each property at least monthly, and assurance that contractual requirements are met is tested by the Home Office Contract Assurance Team, which inspects properties and undertakes other assurance activities on an intelligence-led basis. All asylum seekers have access to a 24/7 Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service provided for the Home Office by Migrant Help, where any concerns regarding accommodation standards can be raised. Issues will then be investigated and addressed in accordance with strict contractual target timeframes. The information you have requested is not held in a readily reportable format and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Department of Health and Social Care

Autism: Community Care and Mental Health Services

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the cost of (a) confining autistic adults in mental health hospitals and (b) meeting needs in the community.

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to change funding incentives to help ensure that funding follows need for the right support in the community for autistic adults.

Maria Caulfield: The Health and Social Care Committee’s report, The treatment of autistic people and people with learning disabilities, included recommendations in relation to assessing the costs of care and support, and redesigning financial incentives in the healthcare system, for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The Government response to the report and position on the recommendations was published 27 July 2022.In the response, we noted the wide range of capital and revenue funding sources and the range of support that a person may draw on from multiple services. This makes an assessment of costs practically challenging. The response set out that we are clear there must be credible alternatives to inpatient care so that people can live independent, fulfilled lives in their community, without financial incentives or disincentives which prevent this from happening.To improve our understanding of funding flows, including any financial incentives or disincentives, the Department commissioned an independent specialist consultancy firm, RedQuadrant, in September 2021 to undertake a rapid review of funding flows associated with Building the Right Support. The work concluded in March 2022 and a report was published in July 2022.

Coronavirus: Drugs and Medical Treatments

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NICE entitled Covid-19 rapid guideline: managing symptoms (including at the end of life) in the community, NG163, published on 3 April 2020, which medical experts were consulted during the commissioning process.

Maria Caulfield: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline NG163, published in 2020, was commissioned in accordance with an established agreement between NHS England and NICE. The focus at that time was given to providing rapid guidance on the management of affected patients with COVID-19. The following organisations were consulted on the guideline:- Association for Palliative Medicine;- Palliative Care Formulary;- Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre;- Cicely Saunders Institute;- NHS England;- ICU Steps;- Macmillan Cancer Support;- Marie Curie;- National Audit for Care at the End of Life;- Palliative Care for Wales;- Royal College of General Practitioners;- Royal College of Physicians; and- Sue Ryder. The following organisations provided general practice consultation on the guidance:- NICE GP Reference Group; and- RCGP Network. A number of NICE’s COVID-19 rapid guidelines were subsequently incorporated into a single guideline, NG191, for the management of COVID-19 in children and adults. The list of panel members for this guideline is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng191/documents/register-of-interests-2

Autism and Learning Disability: Community Care

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to update the Building the Right Support action plan.

Maria Caulfield: There are no current plans to update the Building the Right Support Action Plan as this is a live document and contains a number of commitments which are due to complete after March 2024.The Building the Right Support Delivery Board continues to monitor both the implementation of the action plan and the relevant data to drive progress on reducing the number of people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health inpatient settings, identifying new actions and mitigations as appropriate.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with pharmaceutical companies on making the Covid vaccine commercially available.

Maria Caulfield: The Government is committed to protecting those most at risk from COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Those eligible receive vaccination for free through the National Health Service. Whether and when a private market for COVID-19 vaccines emerges is a matter for private companies, and the Government has no formal role in this. However, the Government is supportive of the emergence of a private market for COVID-19 vaccines to increase choice for consumers. I have engaged with relevant interested parties who may seek to enter the private market this year, including vaccine manufacturers and pharmacies.

Autism: Community Care

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) implementation of the Care Act 2014 for autistic adults and (b) extent to which statutory provisions for such adults under that Act are being met.

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of barriers to autistic people accessing social care.

Maria Caulfield: We have not made any specific assessments. Under the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local authorities to assess individuals’ care and support needs, including those of autistic adults, and, where eligible, for meeting those needs. A new duty on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to assess local authorities’ delivery of their Care Act 2014 duties went live on 1 April 2023 and the formal assessment period has started. The CQC will examine how well local authorities deliver their Care Act duties, including those that apply to autistic people. This will increase transparency and accountability and, most importantly, drive improved outcomes for people who draw on care and support.Our national autism strategy, published in July 2021, acknowledges the importance of autistic people being able to access community support, including social care, and that this should be available at the right time and tailored to their needs. The strategy was informed by a national call for evidence. A summary of the call for evidence findings was published alongside the strategy and included reported barriers to autistic people accessing social care.We are currently updating the Autism Act Statutory Guidance to support the National Health Service and local authorities to deliver improved outcomes for autistic people. This will include setting out what local authorities must and should be doing to meet their duties under the Care Act for autistic adults. We expect to publish the updated statutory guidance this year, following public consultation.

Autism and Learning Disability: Community Care

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2023 to Question 202692 on Autism and Learning Disability: Community Care, what the allocation was to each Integrated Care Board for Community/ CYP key workers.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England made a funding allocation for learning disability and autism services, otherwise known as community and children and young people keyworker services, totalling £121.7 million in 2023/24. The following table shows the breakdown of this funding allocation by integrated care board (ICB):ICBOrganisation RegionFunding allocation 2023/24 (£’000)Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria ICBNorth West3,964South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw ICBNorth East and Yorkshire3,044Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICBMidlands1,618Mid and South Essex ICBEast of England2,427Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICBEast of England1,963Birmingham and Solihull ICBMidlands3,197Cumbria and North East ICBNorth East and Yorkshire6,929Joined Up Care Derbyshire ICBMidlands2,276Suffolk and North East Essex ICBEast of England2,119Devon ICBSouth West2,584Lincolnshire ICBMidlands1,627Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICBMidlands2,119Our Healthier South East London ICBLondon3,954Kent and Medway ICBSouth East3,862Hertfordshire and West Essex ICBEast of England2,969East London Health and Care Partnership ICBLondon4,356North London Partners In Health and Care ICBLondon3,287Norfolk and Waveney Health and Care Partnership ICBEast of England2,280Staffordshire and Stoke On Trent ICBMidlands2,394Frimley Health and Care ICBSouth East1,435Sussex Health and Care Partnership ICBSouth East3,629Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin ICBMidlands1,074Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership ICBNorth West6,623Humber, Coast and Vale ICBNorth East and Yorkshire3,618Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICBSouth West1,848Northamptonshire ICBMidlands1,545Gloucestershire ICBSouth West1,267Hampshire and The Isle Of Wight ICBSouth East3,744North West London Health and Care Partnership ICBLondon4,924Somerset ICBSouth West1,242Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Health and Care ICBMidlands2,501Cornwall and The Isles Of Scilly Health and Social Care Partnership ICBSouth West1,304Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICBSouth East3,425The Black Country and West Birmingham ICBMidlands2,691Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICBEast of England1,769Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICBSouth West2,067Dorset ICBSouth West1,705South West London Health and Care Partnership ICBLondon3,031West Yorkshire and Harrogate (Health and Care Partnership) ICBNorth East and Yorkshire5,232Coventry and Warwickshire ICBMidlands2,011Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership ICBSouth East2,034Cheshire and Merseyside ICBNorth West6,003

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the current waiting times for CAMHS for children in (a) Darlington, (b) the North East and (c) England; and what steps she is taking to reduce those waiting times.

Maria Caulfield: Since 2018, we have invested an extra £2.3 billion a year to expand mental health services in England, with the aim of enabling two million more people, including 345,000 more children and young people to access mental health support.We are rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges. These now cover around 35% of pupils, and is expected to reach 50% of pupils by March 2025. NHS England is also developing a new waiting time standard for children and their families to start to receive community-based mental health care within four weeks from referral.Whilst the relevant data is not available at a constituency level, the following table shows the number of referrals for children and young people aged under 18 years old, supported through National Health Service-funded mental health, and waiting times for first contact between September and November 2023 for NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), North East and Yorkshire Commissioning Region, and England:LocationNumber of referralsMedian waiting time between referral start date and first contact90th percentile waiting time between referral start date and first contactNHS North East and North Cumbria ICB13,0859 days174 daysNorth East and Yorkshire Commissioning Region31,14012 days200 daysEngland179,29513 days225 daysSource: Mental Health Services Data Set, NHS EnglandNotes:These metrics are in line with the proposed new waiting time standards for mental health but are not yet associated with a target, due to significant data quality concerns on the part of NHS England.The 90th percentile waiting time was 174 days meaning 10% of children and young people who received a first contact in this period waited over 174 days.

GP Surgeries: Rents

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many approvals of open market rent for new GP surgeries have been issued by District Valuers in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Andrea Leadsom: We believe this question relates to ‘current market rent’ assessments of general practice (GP) properties undertaken by the District Valuer Service, which are provided to primary care organisations and integrated care boards under the Premises Cost Directions 2013. This helps to ensure agreed rent levels for these properties are in line with market conditions and provide value for money. It is then for integrated care boards, as part of their commissioning responsibilities for primary care, to consider applications for any new general practice surgeries, taking account of current market rent assessments.While the Department does not hold this information on how many current market rent assessments for new GP surgeries the District Valuer Service has completed centrally, the Department does engage with NHS England and the District Valuer Service to ensure policy around rent reimbursements for GP surgeries is fit for purpose.

Electronic Cigarettes: Advertising

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is her Department's policy to ban the promotion and advertisement of vaping products (a) in sports venues and (b) on sports kits.

Andrea Leadsom: The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 outline restrictions on the marketing and promotion of vapes, and are available at the following link:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/507/contents/madeThis includes a ban on advertising on television, radio and through information society services, such as internet advertising or commercial email. We also work closely with the Advertising Standards Authority, which investigates advertising on social media platforms.There are no current plans to ban the promotion and advertisement of vaping products in sports venues and on sports kits. The Government’s response to the recent smoking and vaping consultation sets out our plan to introduce legislation as soon as possible. The legislation will introduce measures to crack down on youth vaping by restricting flavours, point of sale, and packaging for vaping products.

Blood: Donors

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of NHS blood donation appointments that have been cancelled due to staff shortages in each of the last 12 months.

Andrea Leadsom: The following table shows the number appointments booked, the number of appointments cancelled due to staff shortages, and those cancellations as a percentage of all appointments, from January 2023 to December 2023:  JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneBooked Appointments176,421163,349186,571162,949179,578181,374Cancelled due to Staff Shortage3,5385,0607,5833,4543,5796,674Staff Shortage Related Cancellations as % of Booked Appointments2.013.094.062.121.993.68JulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberBooked Appointments177,043181,102166,774172,679172,879158,467Cancelled due to Staff Shortage6,0785,5466,7627,0593,9804,608Staff Shortage Related Cancellations as % of Booked Appointments3.433.064.054.092.302.91Source: NHS Blood and Transplant, January 2024.Note: Cancellation numbers are taken from routine cancellation reporting, cancellation reasons are taken from cancellation request form and proportions have been applied to cancellation numbers

Food Standards Agency

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the resources provided to the Food Standards Agency to assess food safety applications.

Andrea Leadsom: The Food Standards Agency regularly review their resources across the teams who are responsible for delivering the regulated products service and assessing food safety applications. The teams have expanded since they took over responsibility for the delivery of the service from the European Union in January 2021. However, as highlighted in their most recent Board paper in December 2023, resource pressure remains the main risk to their delivery timetables. In the short-term they are mitigating this risk through continuous improvements that enable the current system to work more efficiently within existing resources. In the longer-term they will bring forward plans for more fundamental reform to streamline the system and reduce the burden on applicants and the regulator, without compromising food safety.

Pharmacy: Northumberland

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of pharmacies contracted to be open for 100 hours a week in Northumberland in 2019.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of pharmacies in Northumberland that were contracted to be open for 100 hours a week on 23 January 2024.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of pharmacies open in Northumberland in 2019.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of pharmacies in Northumberland.

Andrea Leadsom: On 31 December 2023, there were 68 pharmacies in Northumberland, including five that were contracted to be open for at least 72 hours. On 31 December 2019, there were 71 pharmacies in Northumberland, including six that were contracted to be open for at least 100 hours.In May 2023 new legislation came into force which enabled 100-hour pharmacies to reduce their minimum number of opening hours to 72, to support the viability of those pharmacies and prevent them from closing.

Dentistry: Burton

Kate Kniveton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the capacity of NHS dentists in Burton and Uttoxeter.

Andrea Leadsom: Our plan for dentistry, to be published shortly, will build upon the first package of reforms agreed in July 2022, which included changes to banding and the introduction of a minimum units of dental activity value. Our plan will include addressing how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make National Health Service work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, we will expand places by 24% by 2028/29, taking the overall number that year to 1,000 places.From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.

Electronic Cigarettes: Sales

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle the sale of illegal vapes.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is concerned about the worrying rise in illicit and underage vaping, with rates of youth vaping tripling in the last three years. Illicit vapes can contain unknown ingredients, stronger nicotine, and are made available to children through black market channels.Local enforcement agencies are responsible for ensuring that suppliers and retailers of vapes comply with strict Government regulations. Selling illegal vapes can result in an unlimited fine and even a custodial sentence, as well as imprisonment of up to two years upon conviction.The Government is significantly increasing investment for our enforcement agencies to tackle these issues. In October 2023 the Prime Minister announced an increase of £30 million per year for enforcement agencies to help stamp out the illicit tobacco and vape trade. This is in addition to the £3 million investment announced in April 2023 to set up a national illicit vapes enforcement unit, aimed at addressing the issue of illegal and underage vaping, which is overseen by National Trading Standards.

Dental Services: Darlington

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Units of Dental Activity have been delivered in Darlington Constituency in each year since 2006; and what the cost of that delivery was in each of those years.

Andrea Leadsom: Data on the cost of delivery is not centrally held at integrated care board (ICB) level. The following table shows the number of units of dental activity (UDAs) delivered in North East and North Cumbria ICB since 2015/16:YearUDAs deliveredPercentage change2015/164,861,964 2016/174,782,699-1.6%2017/184,579,779-4.2%2018/194,974,0878.6%2019/204,685,845-5.8%2020/211,446,015-69.1%2021/223,461,374139.4%2022/234,163,67520.3%Source: NHS EnglandNotes:ICBs were established in 2021/22.The figures provided from 2015/16 to 2020/21 are presumptive figures of expected ICB value to compare UDA delivery to previous years.There is no comparable data prior to 2015/16.

Meat Products: Preservatives

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of lowering the legal limits on nitrites in processed meat products on public health.

Andrea Leadsom: The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which holds policy responsibility for the safety of food additives, is considering the impact of lowering nitrate levels from a food safety perspective. Nitrates are important additives that perform a range of technological functions, including control of microorganisms such as the pathogen Clostridium botulinum which is responsible for botulism, an often fatal condition. The FSA would wish to ensure there are no unintended food safety consequences related to lowering nitrate and nitrite levels before considering next steps.

Transplant Surgery: South Holland and the Deepings

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of people who have received organ transplants in South Holland and The Deepings constituency in each year since 2010.

Andrea Leadsom: The following table shows the number of people who have received organ transplants in South Holland and The Deepings constituency between 2010 and 2023. Transplant YearNumber of Transplants201062011Fewer than 52012Fewer than 52013Fewer than 52014142015Fewer than 5201662017Fewer than 5201862019Fewer than 520208202152022820236Total78 Source: NHS Blood and Transplant, January 2024Note: It is not possible to provide any specific figures less than five, so as to protect the identities of affected patients.

Health Services: Translation Services

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse was of providing language translators in (a) hospitals and (b) health centres in each year since 2010.

Andrea Leadsom: Translation and interpreting services for hospitals and health centres are commissioned by local National Health Service organisations who may hold this data.The Department and NHS England have not estimated the potential cost to the public purse of these services used by the NHS.Section 13G of the National Health Service Act 2006 states NHS England must have regard to the need to reduce inequalities between patients, including with respect to access to health services. NHS England guidance stipulates that where language is a problem in discussing health matters a professional interpreter should always be offered. It is the responsibility of NHS service providers to ensure interpreting and translation services are made available to their patients free at the point of delivery.

Public Health: Finance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the removal of NHS public health functions agreement ring-fence funding on cancer screening programmes.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government does not believe that, since 2020/21, removal of a ring-fence in respect of NHS England’s funding for services covered by the annual NHS Public Health Functions Agreement has had any specific impact on delivery of the relevant programmes including cancer screening programmes. NHS England is committed to delivering maximum levels of screening uptake and coverage across the whole population, both within and between communities. A range of initiatives are underway within individual programmes to, as appropriate, expand eligibility and trial innovative technologies as well as to improve the underpinning service delivery, including alignment with symptomatic services and digital infrastructure.

Paxlovid

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for Paxlovid to include people who are full-time carers to mitigate the risk of long covid.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department has made no such assessment, as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that makes recommendations on whether medicines can be recommended for routine use on the National Health Service. NICE’s recommendations are based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and developed through a rigorous process that includes extensive engagement with stakeholders.NICE published guidance in March 2023 that recommends Paxlovid for patients at highest risk of developing serious illness from COVID-19. Paxlovid is now routinely available to NHS patients in line with NICE’s guidance. NICE issued final draft guidance on 11 January 2024 that expands its recommendation of Paxlovid to include other higher risk groups, including people aged 70 years and over, or with a body mass index of 35 or more, diabetes, or heart failure.

Cancer and Public Health

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Minister in her Department is responsible for delivery of (a) cancer screening programmes and (b) the NHS public health Section 7A agreement.

Andrew Stephenson: My role as the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care includes responsibility for major diseases including cancer, and for screening.In accordance with the NHS Public Health Functions Agreement (made under section 7A of the NHS Act 2006) NHS England is responsible for providing or securing the provision of breast, bowel and cervical screening programmes and other specified public health services.My Rt. Hon friend, Andrea Leadsom MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care, has led ministerial responsibility for arrangements under section 7A.

Community Diagnostic Centres

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of diagnostic tests that were carried out at community diagnostic centres since October 2021.

Andrew Stephenson: As of November 2023, community diagnostic centres have delivered 6,044,048 additional diagnostic tests since October 2021.

Community Diagnostic Centres: Disadvantaged

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, What discussions she has had with (a) NHS England and (b) Integrated care boards on using Community Diagnostic Centres to reduce health inequalities.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in Community Diagnostic Centres.

Andrew Stephenson: My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State has regular discussions with NHS England on the progress of the community diagnostic centre (CDC) programme, including how CDCs are delivering against the programme aims, and supporting a reduction in health inequalities.CDCs aim to enhance diagnostic capacity in underserved communities, with NHS England prioritising their placement in areas identified through health deprivation maps to target and address disparities in life expectancy. Bids for new CDCs went through a thorough approval process assessing local diagnostic capacity, health inequalities, transport links, and cost-effectiveness. Cases were further scrutinised by clinical and diagnostic experts prior to final approval by NHS England. Funding for CDCs has been allocated so that regions with unmet needs received more funding. This will help to tackle health inequalities by directing funding to areas of need. NHS England is working on a plan to ensure sufficient workforce capacity, including for CDCs, to enable workforce expansion with the right skills and roles, in the right locations and at the right time. This includes reliable recruitment routes to deliver the required uplift in staffing. In 2022/23, this resulted in over 4,300 new starters across the training pipeline for cancer and diagnostics. There are record numbers of people working in the National Health Service overall, and the NHS has recently published a Long Term Workforce Plan which sets out long term workforce projections. The Government has backed the plan with over £2.4 billion to fund additional education and training places over five years.

Dementia: Drugs

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland on the use of (a) Lecanemab and (b) Donanemab in the treatment of dementia.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department is working closely together with system partners to plan for the implementation of new dementia medicines such as lecanemab and donanemab, should they be granted a marketing authorisation in the United Kingdom and a positive National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommendation. Partners include the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NICE, NHS England, the Office for Life Sciences, and the devolved administrations, including the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.

Hospitals: Parking

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is to ensure free NHS car parking for those with greatest need.

Andrew Stephenson: Free National Health Service carparking for those with the greatest need has already been delivered. The Government committed in 2019 to provide free hospital car parking for in-need groups, including disabled people, parents of children staying overnight, frequent outpatient attenders and NHS staff working overnight. As of October 2022, all trusts that charge for car parking have fully implemented this commitment. This is the first time that free hospital car parking in England has been made available to those who need it the most.

Liver Diseases: North East

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the rate of liver disease in (a) Darlington constituency and b) the North East.

Andrew Stephenson: The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes liver disease profiles that compare local areas within England. Data for the prevalence of liver disease is not collected. The profiles provide liver disease mortality and hospital admissions rates for areas to assess their local level of disease. These profiles do not publish data by constituency; however, the profile does publish data for local authorities.In the Darlington Unitary Authority, during 2021, the rate of mortality from liver disease was 26.4 (17.3 to 38.4) per 100,000 population aged under 75 years old. In 2021/22, the hospital admission rate due to liver disease was 177.8 (122.6 to 239.3) per 100,000 population across all ages.In the North East region, during 2021, the rate of mortality from liver disease was 28.8 (26.7 to 31.0) per 100,000 population aged under 75 years old. The North East regional rate was significantly higher than the England mortality rate of 21.2 per 100,000 and was the second highest regional rate in England. In 2021/22, the hospital admission rate in the North East region due to liver disease was 190.1 (178.6 to 201.7) per 100,000 population across all ages. The North East regional rate was significantly higher than the England hospital admission rate of 150.6 per 100,000 and was the highest regional rate in England.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January to Question 10306 on Cervical Cancer: Health Education, if she will make it her policy to provide smear tests for women aged 25 and younger who (a) request one and (b) are experiencing abnormalities.

Andrew Stephenson: Cervical screening is not recommended for women below the age of 25 years old, as cervical cancer is rare in under-25s. Screening at a younger age can lead to unnecessary and potentially harmful investigations and treatments.Women of any age who are experiencing symptoms such as bleeding between periods or after sex, pain or discomfort during sex, or abnormal vaginal discharge should see their general practitioner. They may be offered a pelvic examination and referral to colposcopy or gynaecology if needed.

Radiology: Staff

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many radiology appointments were delayed due to staff shortages in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Stephenson: The data is not held in the format requested. However, there are record numbers of people working in the National Health Service overall and the NHS has recently published a Long Term Workforce Plan which sets out long term workforce projections. As of September 2023, there are currently almost 17,800 full-time equivalent diagnostic radiographers working in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 1,300 or 8.1% more than in 2022 and over 2,600 or 17.4% more than in 2019.The NHS is prioritising patient safety and will continue to do its best to maintain appointments and elective procedures wherever possible. Cancelled appointments that need to be rescheduled will be done so as a priority.

Dementia: Research

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that funding provided by her Department for research into dementia is allocated on the basis of whether people undertaking that research reflect the diversity of people affected by that illness.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is strongly committed to supporting research into dementia. Governmental responsibility for delivering dementia research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.The NIHR is committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion. When populations are excluded from health and care research it leads to biases, bad science, and skewed results. The NIHR understands that more diverse and inclusive health and care research can prove whether medicines and treatments will benefit people from all backgrounds, and for that reason it supports Join Dementia Research to increase the number and diversity of people participating in dementia research. Based on the latest published data, the diversity of research participants in NIHR-funded Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) in all areas of disease in 2022, mirrored the 2011 census data on ethnicity and sex across England and Wales. Data shows that NIHR RCT research participants were 86% white, 4% black, 5% Asian, and 5% of other minority ethnic groups. Male and female participation was equal to the population, at 49% and 51%, respectively. The NIHR strives to develop researchers from multiple disciplines, specialisms, geographies and backgrounds, and works to address barriers to career progression arising from characteristics such as sex, race or disability. Diverse people and communities shape NIHR funded research.

Health Services: Children and Young People

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with NHS England about reducing waiting times for children and young people’s access to (a) community paediatric services, (b) occupational therapy and (c) speech and language therapy.

Helen Whately: The Department holds regular meetings with NHS England on timely access to community health services. Addressing waiting times is a priority for both the National Health Service and the Department. In 2023, NHS England asked local systems to develop plans to reduce community waiting lists.NHS England is working to improve community health services data to better understand waiting lists and identifying actions to reduce waits, including consideration of new pathways to improve effectiveness and productivity.

Autism: Social Services

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure the national allocation of funding for adult social care reflects (a) the number of autistic adults and (b) their potential level of need.

Helen Whately: Public spending on adult social care is funded from both local Government revenue and central Government grants and therefore has to be viewed as part of the wider local Government funding settlement. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is responsible for the financial framework within which local Government operates and for ensuring the sufficiency of local Government funding.Central Government grants for adult social care are largely distributed using the Adult Social Care Relative Needs Formulae, which are developed by independent researchers to reflect differences in councils’ need for local authority funded social care, to ensure councils funding reflects the relative level of need in their area. These formulae account for a range of factors including population, income and wealth, levels of impairment and availability of unpaid care support.Local authorities have discretion over how to use their funding to meet the needs of their local population, including those of autistic adults.

Hospices: Children

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is for informing children's hospices of the (a) timeframe and (b) process for distribution of the children's hospice grant for 2024-25.

Helen Whately: Financial year 2023/24 marks the final year of NHS England’s current grant agreement for the centrally funded and administered Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant, provided to all children and young people’s hospices in England. NHS England’s proposed plan for 2024/25 is to maintain the same funding as 2023/24, namely £25 million, and to use the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24.NHS England is in the process of reprioritising budgets for 2024/25, in light of the revised assessment of financial position and, whilst it is holding funding aside for the children and young people’s hospice sector, it cannot confirm further details, including the distribution mechanism, until 2024/25 financial planning is concluded.

Hospices: Children

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report by Together for Short Lives entitled The deep disparity in NHS funding for children who need hospice care, published on 13 December 2023.

Helen Whately: The Government recognises that access to high-quality, palliative and end of life care can make all the difference to individuals and their loved ones. The commissioning of children and young people’s palliative and end of life care services is the statutory duty of integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs must commission palliative and end of life care services in response to the needs of their population, provided by a range of local organisations with the experience and skills to meet those needs.Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their families. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the ICB footprint. Charitable hospices are autonomous organisations that provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide. Consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.Due to the way the hospice movement organically grew, hospice locations were largely not planned with geographic or demographic purposes as a driving force. Therefore, there are inequalities with access to hospice services, especially for those living in rural or socio-economically deprived areas. It is therefore vital that hospices and statutory services work together to provide ensure their populations have access to palliative and end of life care when they need it.At a national level, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan commitment, NHS England (NHSE) has provided circa £12 million match-funding to participating ICBs (and formerly clinical commissioning groups) between 2020/21 and 2023/24 which committed to invest in children and young people’s palliative and end of life care, including children and young people’s hospices, giving a total investment of £24 million. In addition, NHSE supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. NHSE has confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million grant funding for children’s hospices using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. This prevalence-based approach ensures funding matches local need.NHSE’s palliative and end of life care team has recently engaged with 24 ICBs to understand how to better support commissioners and has also reviewed all 42 ICB Joint Forward Plans for their inclusion of palliative and end of life care, with 69% of those plans making a specific mention. Further analysis is ongoing, but the intention is to use this information to help shape and focus support to ICBs.Palliative and end of life care has been added to the agenda for Regional Quality and Performance meetings. Additionally, NHSE has commissioned the development of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of those their local population, including the ability to filter the available information, such as by deprivation or ethnicity, thereby, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities.

Social Work: Staff

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle social work workforce (a) shortages and (b) recruitment.

Helen Whately: We recognise and value the vital contribution of regulated professions, including social workers in adult social care, and are committed to developing the skills of the workforce. That is why we announced a new fund on 10 January 2024 to support recruitment of social work apprentices into adult social care over the next three years. The new funding will allow local authorities to apply for a contribution towards the costs of training and supervising new social work apprenticeships. Details on what the funding can be used for, how to access the funding, and employer eligibility will be set out in guidance to be published on GOV.UK shortly.

Carers: Older People

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled The Impact of Care Act Easements published by the University of Manchester and the NIHR Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit in November 2022, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities in identifying hidden older carers within their communities.

Helen Whately: Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for any unpaid carer who appears to have need for support, and to meet their eligible needs upon request from the carer. On 24 October 2023, the adult social care’s Innovation and Improvement Unit launched the Accelerating Reform Fund which provides a total of £42.6 million over 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support innovation and scaling in adult social care, and to kick start a change in services to support unpaid carers. The list of priorities for innovation and scaling includes focussing on identifying unpaid carers in local areas, encouraging people to recognise themselves as carers, and promoting access to carer services. The adult social care reform white paper, People at the Heart of Care, published on 1 December 2021, highlighted the potential to increase the voluntary use of unpaid carer markers in National Health Service electronic health records. In 2022, NHS England wrote to all general practices about the importance of identifying carers and advising how caring status should be recorded on patient records.

Mental Health Services: Civil Society

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support voluntary sector providers of mental health services.

Maria Caulfield: Since 2020, the Department provided £10.2 million of additional funding to support mental health charities, including Samaritans and the Campaign Against Living Miserably, and over £34 million to organisations supporting people who experience loneliness. The Department also invested £5.4 million to support suicide prevention through 113 voluntary and community sector organisations, through the Suicide Prevention Grant Fund. This was part of the Government's unprecedented £750 million package of support for the voluntary sector during the pandemic, which benefited over 14,000 charities. In addition, the Suicide Prevention Grant Fund will run from 2023 to March 2025 to support voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to deliver suicide prevention activity.

Maternity Services: Staff

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many maternity support workers there were in the NHS in each of the last five years.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows the full-time equivalent number of maternity support workers working in National Health Service hospital trusts and other core organisations in England, annually from September 2018 to 2023:YearMaternity ServicesNeonatal NursingTotalSeptember 20186,8434177,260September 20196,9514357,386September 20207,1264747,600September 20216,9874647,451September 20227,1954437,638September 20237,5774858,063Source: NHS Workforce Statistics, NHS DigitalNotes:Maternity support staff can be defined as all support staff that work in the ‘maternity services’ and ‘neonatal nursing’ care settings, with the latter including Special Care Baby Units. This includes nursing associates, nursery nurses, nursing assistants/auxiliaries, healthcare assistants and support workers.The data includes staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations. It excludes staff directly employed general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers such as community interest companies and private providers.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Gaza: Israel

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of advice received on Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We regularly review advice about Israel's capability and commitment to International Humanitarian Law, and act consistent with that advice, for example when considering export licenses.

Gaza: Israel

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will publish legal advice received by the Government relating to the conflict in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We regularly review advice about Israel's capability and commitment to International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We act consistent with that advice, for example when considering export licenses. Legal advice to Ministers on Israel's commitment, capability and compliance with regard to IHL is confidential.

Armed Conflict: Children

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent progress his Department has made on meeting the commitments made at the Oslo Conference for Protecting Children in Armed Conflict in June 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: At the Oslo Conference, the UK committed to hosting a youth-briefer at the UN Security Council (UNSC) Children in Armed Conflict (CAAC) Open Debate in 2023 and delivering annual ministerial level roundtables with children affected by armed conflict.During the UK presidency of the UNSC in July 2023, the UK invited a 17-year-old child from Colombia to brief the UNSC, the first in-person child representative to do so.In 2024, we remain committed to holding a roundtable to amplify the voices of young people, building on the roundtable held by Minister Ford in 2022.

Palestinians: Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of arranging for Palestinians in Gaza who are in need of urgent healthcare to (a) be brought to the UK and (b) access healthcare on the NHS.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are currently supporting NGO and UN partners to deliver medical aid and care in the Gaza Strip. This includes support for primary healthcare, trauma and emergency care services, disease surveillance and outbreak response, and deployment of Emergency Medical Teams. We are also exploring further options to help meet the medical needs of Palestinians.

Armed Conflict: Children

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the policy paper entitled International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change, a white paper on international development, published on 20 November 2023, what recent progress his Department has made on developing a new strategy on children in conflict.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK recognises that protecting children from the effects of armed conflict is a moral, legal, and strategic imperative and essential in breaking the cycle of violence.As announced in the International Development White Paper, published in November 2023, the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office is committed to publishing a children in conflict strategy. This will be the first UK Government strategy on this agenda and marks a step-change in our commitment to the protection of children affected by conflict. Officials are beginning work on the strategy.

France: Foreign Relations

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the Answer of 24 October 2023 to Question 203456 on France: Foreign Relations, what recent steps his Department has taken to prepare for the commemoration of the 120th anniversary of the signing of the Entente Cordiale with France.

Leo Docherty: On 23 January, the British Embassy in Paris and the French Embassy in London launched celebrations for the Entente Cordiale 120th anniversary year. The two embassies are collaborating on a range of events this year reflecting the breadth of the UK-France relationship. They will showcase our longstanding cooperation on issues including climate change, science, sport, culture, defence, education, and trade.

Armenia: Azerbaijan

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Azerbaijan on its proposal for a corridor through Armenia.

Leo Docherty: The UK strongly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Addressing challenges in regional connectivity and resolving any remaining border disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan are matters to be resolved between the two countries as part of peace negotiations; I [Minister Docherty] discussed these matters with the Governments of both countries during my visit to Baku and Yerevan in November 2023. Direct dialogue is the only way to both secure stability and security for the region, and promote peaceful co-operation between both countries in the future.

Papua: Official Visits

Alex Sobel: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with his Indonesian counterpart on authorising a visit to West Papua by (a) the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, (b) Special Rapporteurs and (c) mandate holders.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK fully respects the territorial integrity of Indonesia and regards the provinces of Papua and West Papua as an integral part of Indonesia. The UK Government continues to support the efforts of the Indonesian authorities and civil society to address the needs and aspirations of the Papuan people. We hope dates for a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights can be agreed soon.

Taiwan: Politics and Government

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with his international counterparts on tackling AI-generated misinformation reportedly targeted at disrupting the internal democratic processes of Taiwan.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: It is for the Taiwanese people to decide their leader, free from interference. The elections that took place on 13 January are testament to Taiwan's vibrant democracy. The UK has a clear interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which we have restated alongside our G7 partners.

Bangladesh: Rohingya

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to ask the secretary of state for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development affairs, whether his Department has taken steps to support people affected by the fire of 7 January 2024 in a Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We were saddened to hear about the fire on 7 January. We have been in close touch with the UN and other donors about the recent fires. UK funding has helped to train Rohingya volunteer fire fighters to combat incidents like this. The UK has raised with the Government of Bangladesh the potential benefits of permitting more durable shelter materials in the camps that could better withstand the impact of disasters, such as fires and cyclones.

Ramzi Abu Sahloul

Andy McDonald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the fatal shooting of Ramzi Abu Sahlool.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to be respected and civilians to be protected. Too many civilians have been killed and we want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes. The Foreign Secretary continues to make these points in discussions with his Israeli counterparts.

Gaza: Israel

Richard Burgon: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what legal advice he has received on the risk that UK manufactured (a) arms and (b) components have been used during the conflict in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: It is the long-standing policy of the Government not to comment on the legal advice it receives. Nevertheless, we are monitoring the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories very closely. All export licences are kept under careful and continual review, and we can amend, suspend, refuse or revoke licences as circumstances require.

Commonwealth: Non-aligned Movement

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had on the forthcoming Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Kampala with the Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Kampala took place over 15-20 January and was attended by the Commonwealth Secretary General. Many issues of significance to the Commonwealth were tabled at this forum, such as the need for urgent action to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and human rights. The UK is working with the countries in this important grouping, as well as with the Commonwealth Secretariat, to make progress on these and other issues.

Gaza: Humanitarian Pauses

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make representations to his Israeli counterpart on implementing a new humanitarian pause in the conflict in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are calling for an immediate humanitarian pause to get aid in and hostages out. We are clear that Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity.

Ukraine: Religious Freedom

Sir Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart on religious freedom in the context of the decision to prohibit the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Leo Docherty: We are deeply disturbed by the impact of Russia's illegal war on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in Ukraine. This includes widespread destruction of religious sites, and the imposition of restrictive Russian laws in the temporarily controlled territories. The UK is carefully tracking the development of the draft law on religious organisations. The British Embassy in Kyiv continues to actively engage with Ukrainian religious organisations and representatives on the issue. We welcome the Ukrainian Government's assurances that the law is not aimed at restricting FoRB, and their ongoing consultation with religious communities in Ukraine on the terms of the law.

Hamas: Hostage Taking

Bob Blackman: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK government has been working with partners across the region to secure the release of hostages, including British nationals and their families. Release of hostages was a priority for the recent Foreign Secretary visit to the Middle East where he held high level talks with regional leaders and met with hostage families. We are calling for an immediate humanitarian pause now to get aid in and remaining hostages out, and as a vital step towards building a sustainable, permanent ceasefire. To achieve that, Hamas must agree to the release of all hostages.

Armed Conflict: Gender Based Violence

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle violence against women and girls in conflict zones.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As a global leader on action to address conflict-related sexual violence, the Government has committed £60m to our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative since launch in 2012. The Government has also sanctioned 13 perpetrators for conflict-related sexual violence since 2022. At the Global Refugee Forum in December 2023, the UK announced a further £2m funding to refugee and women-led organisations working to tackle Gender-Based Violence in crisis.

Gaza: Israel

Drew Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of levels of international support for South Africa's referral of Israel to the International Court of Justice.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: This development is unhelpful and we do not support it. As we have said previously, we recognise that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas, in accordance with IHL. Ultimately, it is for courts to decide on matters of genocide, not for states. We of course respect the role and independence of the ICJ.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Self-harm and Suicide

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) support his Department provides to and (b) safeguarding measures are in place within the welfare system for people assessed to be at serious risk of suicide or self-harm; and whether he plans to take steps to strengthen that support.

Mims Davies: The Department recognises the importance of supporting vulnerable customers. All staff working with customers undertake comprehensive training to equip them with the skills to be able to support those who express an intention of suicide or self-harm.The Department has an established Six Point Plan for staff to follow when they identify a customer who may be at risk of harming themselves. This toolkit ensures that appropriate support is provided and this may involve notifying emergency services in the event where the customer is at immediate risk.The Six Point Plan is under continuous review to ensure it aligns with current thinking on mental health. We also have Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders whose role is to reach across local communities to underpin our relationships with other organisations that provide support to our customers.The Work and Pensions Select Committee announced an inquiry into ‘Safeguarding vulnerable claimants’ on 21 July 2023 and will examine this with emphasis on whether the Department’s approach to safeguarding needs to change.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations and Disqualification

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential mental health impact of (a) disability tests and (b) sanctions.

Mims Davies: No assessment has been made of the potential mental health impact of PIP or WCA, assessments or social security sanctions. a) Evaluations of Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Work Capability Assessments (WCA) policy are routinely carried out, and often include engagement with external researchers. The methods used are designed to be appropriate to the specific type of intervention being evaluated. Customer experience of assessments is also continually monitored. However, it would be extremely difficult to objectively separate the specific impact of disability tests on mental health from other contributory factors. b) Under Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance, sanctions do not apply to all customers. Those with a health condition, illness or disability who are found to have ‘limited capability for work and work-related requirements’, are not subject to work-related conditions and will therefore not be sanctioned. Those found to have limited capability for work and claimants on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed with their work coach. Where a customer has a health condition, illness or disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor these requirements to what is reasonable and achievable, taking into account the individual's condition. Additionally, in some circumstances a customer’s work-related requirements may be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances. A sanction is only applied where an individual has failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without demonstrating good reason for doing so. In cases where vulnerabilities are known or suspected, a pre-referral quality check is undertaken prior to any sanction referral to ensure that it is appropriate in the circumstances.

Universal Credit

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, who determines whether a paper presented to the Universal Credit Programme Board is a below the line item and therefore not automatically deposited in the Library after two years.

Jo Churchill: The Senior Responsible Owner for Universal Credit determines whether papers go to the Programme Board as agenda items. However, all papers, including those below the line, are covered by our publication strategy. All Universal Credit Programme Board papers are automatically published in twice yearly batches (April and October) covering a 6-month period, 2 years after the date of the last meeting in the appropriate batch.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2023 to Question 7225 on Personal Independence Payment: Appeals, if he will publish the (a) number and proportion of personal independence payment claims overturned by Tribunal, broken down by primary reason, and (b) feedback provided by his Department's Presenting Officers for each of the last three years.

Mims Davies: The table below shows the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions overturned at Tribunal by reason between January 2021 and September 2023.These figures are the result of a complex data match across a number of data sets. This data is unpublished data and should therefore be used with caution, as it may be subject to future revision.To note, this information is taken from Decision Notices and recorded on the PIP computer system.This data only provides one reason per appeal why decisions by DWP decision makers have been overturned at a tribunal hearing, and therefore may not give the full story as there may be other or multiple reasons.Appeals data is taken from the DWP PIP computer system’s management information. Therefore, this appeal data may differ from that held by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.As with all DWP processes, we continuously review and have made improvements to our decision-making processes to help ensure we make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey. We have introduced a new approach to decision making at both the initial decision and the Mandatory Reconsideration stage, giving Decision Makers additional time to proactively contact customers where they think additional evidence may support the claim.The feedback from Presenting Officers is done on a case-by-case basis and only at a local level. Whilst trends are identified to help inform future decision making - this includes feeding back to Healthcare Professionals - there are no plans to consolidate and publish the feedback in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.  Summary reason DWP decision overturned at Tribunal hearingAppeal Clearance Year202120222023 (up to September)New written evidence provided at hearing400200300Cogent Oral Evidence8,8008,80011,800Reached a Different Conclusion on Substantially the Same Facts16,30016,70017,500Other1,9001,9002,000

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 7902 on Social Security Benefits: Disability, if she will provide a breakdown of those figures by age; and how many and what proportion of people who left the group in that time period did so as a result of reaching state pension age.

Mims Davies: The age breakdown of the 65,900 claimants who were in the Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity group in November 2022 but had left that group by November 2023 is below. Currently we do not report aggregate information that directly identifies if the reason for leaving the group is as a result of reaching state pension age and to collate and quality assure this information would incur disproportionate costs. However, 15,700 of these claimants were aged 65 in November 2022, so would have turned 66 during the year.  Age GroupUC claimants who were in the LCWRA group in November 2022 but not in the LCWRA group in November 2023PercentageMissing - no match to age information7001.0%Under 204000.5%20 - 243,0004.5%25 - 293,6005.5%30 - 344,4006.6%35 - 394,4006.7%40 - 444,6006.9%45 - 494,5006.9%50 - 545,7008.7%55 - 596,80010.3%60 - 647,70011.6%65 - 6919,80030.0%70 and over4000.7%Total65,900  Notes:These figures are rounded to the nearest 100, produced using internal MI and are not quality assured to Official Statistics standards.The matching process to produce claimant age group information has resulted in small differences to the total LCWRA volume when compared to the previous response.The monthly total age breakdowns of claimants on UC Health by stage are published on Stat-Xplore.

Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of claims for (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance being allowed for (i) mental and (ii) physical health conditions in the last five years.

Mims Davies: We continue to keep all aspects of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), including the outcome of claims by main disabling condition, under review to ensure the benefits are working as intended. Information on the number of claims cleared at assessment by condition is available on Stat-Xplore (Stat-Xplore - Log in (dwp.gov.uk)). You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance (User Guide (dwp.gov.uk)) on how to extract the information required.

State Retirement Pensions: Women

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support women who are physically unable to work to state pension age.

Mims Davies: We know that older people are more likely to develop a disability or health condition that impacts on their ability to work, and the Department has initiatives to support them as part of the core Jobcentre Plus offer, as well as through specialist provision. This Government is committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it, including when they near or reach retirement. Support is available through the welfare system to those who are unable to work, are on a low income or have additional costs as a consequence of a long-term health condition or disability but are not eligible to pensioner benefits because of their age. Good work is generally good for health. Therefore, where possible and appropriate, the Government supports disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work through an ambitious programme of initiatives. These include: the Work and Health Programme; Access to Work grants; Disability Confident; a digital information service for employers; Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres; Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care. Building on existing provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget, we announced a new package of support in Autumn Statement 2023 including to explore new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to support; and establish an expert group to advice on a voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provision. Access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. This can support people to find work they can do, and the appropriate adjustments to allow them to work successfully with their disability or health condition. The principle of having a State Pension age that is the same for everybody is fundamental in the UK. Unlike a personal or workplace pension, which can potentially be drawn earlier, it has always been the case that nobody can claim their State Pension early, before they reach their State Pension age. We have no current plans to change this principle.

Children: Maintenance

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government's consultation entitled Child Maintenance: Improving our enforcement powers through the commencement of curfew orders, published on 9 July 2022, what his Department's planned timetable is for laying the commencement order relating to curfew orders.

Paul Maynard: The Child Maintenance Service already has a suite of strong enforcement powers at its disposal. These include, using Enforcement Agents (previously known as bailiffs) to take control of goods, forcing the sale of property, removal of driving licence or UK passport, deductions directly from earnings and bank accounts or even commitment to prison. We have explored how Curfews could be implemented as an additional enforcement measure to improve compliance. Several enforcement initiatives aimed at improving compliance are currently in train and we need to get those in place and assess their effects before we can best see how curfews might fit with them. We are continuing to keep their introduction under review.

Department for Work and Pensions: Meetings

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's publication entitled DWP's ministerial meetings, July to September 2023, published on 14 December 2023, if he will list the (a) organisations and (b) individuals who attended the departmental roundtable on 25 September 2023.

Mims Davies: There was no departmental roundtable on the 25th September 2023. The previous Minister for Disabled People, Health & Work met with a number of stakeholders separately on the 25th September 2023 to discuss the Disability Perceptions Campaign Launch. These organisations are listed here under ‘DWP's ministerial meetings, July to September 2023’.

Fraud

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 9806 on Fraud, for what reason his Department forecasts that fraudulent behaviour will rise by five per cent per year.

Paul Maynard: The 5% forecast assumption is an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) figure based on a range of evidence, most notably the Home Office statistics that show that fraud has been consistently rising across the economy over recent years. This is further supported by the recent British Social Attitudes survey - British Social Attitudes: Fraud and Error in Welfare Benefits, 2016 to 2022 (publishing.service.gov.uk) which shows that public tolerance of benefit fraud has increased over the last few years. Further detail of all factors considered can be found at Q98 of the Public Accounts Committee from September 2023 - committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/13676/pdf/

Financial Assistance Scheme

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the Financial Assistance Scheme for individuals who lost occupational pensions because their sponsoring employer became insolvent.

Paul Maynard: The information required to carry out such an assessment is not readily available and to obtain the detail needed would take significant time. The Secretary of State has therefore made no such assessment and does not intend to do so at this stage.

Financial Assistance Scheme: Cost of Living

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support recipients of the Financial Assistance Scheme with the cost of living.

Paul Maynard: This Government is committed to take action that helps to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty, including those who are receiving payments from Financial Assistance Scheme. This includes measures such as: the triple lock - that increased the basic and new state pension by 10.1% in financial year 2023/24Pension Credit– which was also increased by 10.1% in financial year 2023/24a £300 payment – which has been made to pensioner households as a top up to their Winter Fuel Payment both this winter, and in the winter of 2022/23.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's policy is on the introduction of indexation for inflation for the Financial Assistance Scheme.

Paul Maynard: While all legislation is kept under review as a matter of course, there are currently no concrete plans to review the Financial Assistance Scheme indexation rules, which is complex and will require careful consideration.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had recent discussions with the Pensions Action Group on the Financial Assistance Scheme.

Paul Maynard: The Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions with the Pensions Action Group (PAG). However, on 8 January 2024 I met with representatives of PAG in which a range of issues in relation to the Financial Assistance Scheme were discussed.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure the mental well-being of people affected by welfare sanctions.

Jo Churchill: Under Universal Credit, sanctions do not apply to all customers. Those with a health condition, illness or disability who are found to have ‘limited capability for work and work-related requirements’, are not subject to work-related conditions and will therefore not be sanctioned. Those on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed with their work coach. Where a customer on a work-related benefit has a health condition, illness or a disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor their requirements to what is reasonable and achievable taking into account the individual's condition. In some circumstances a customer’s work-related requirements maybe be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances. A sanction is only applied where an individual has failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without demonstrating good reason for doing so and in cases where vulnerabilities are known or suspected, a pre-referral quality check is undertaken prior to any sanction referral to ensure that it is appropriate in the circumstances. For customers who demonstrate that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs as a result of a sanction, we have a well-established system of hardship payments. These needs can include heating, food and hygiene.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of sanctions for (a) minor infringements of welfare rules and (b) being late for jobcentre meetings on the mental health of people sanctioned.

Jo Churchill: No assessment has been made of the potential mental health impact of sanctions for (a) minor infringements of welfare rules and (b) being late for jobcentre meetings. Under Universal Credit, sanctions do not apply to all customers. Those with a health condition, illness or disability who are found to have ‘limited capability for work and work-related requirements’, are not subject to work-related conditions and will therefore not be sanctioned. Those on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed with their work coach to do so. Where a customer on a work-related benefit has a health condition, illness or a disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor their requirements to what is reasonable and achievable taking into account the individual's condition. Additionally, in some circumstances a customer’s work-related requirements maybe be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances. A sanction is only applied where an individual has failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without demonstrating good reason for doing so and in the cases where vulnerabilities are known or suspected, a pre-referral quality check is undertaken prior to any sanction referral to ensure that it is appropriate in the circumstances. For minor conditionality failures, including failing to attend a mandatory appointment with a work coach an open-ended sanction is applied. Open-ended sanctions can be ended at any time by the customer simply re-engaging with their work coach and complying with the failed conditionality requirement.

Cabinet Office

Public Sector: Cybersecurity

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of cyber threat posed to public (a) services and (b) institutions.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve cyber security (a) training and (b) awareness in public sector organisations.

Alex Burghart: Government and the wider public sector remain an attractive target to a broad range of cyber threat actors of every level of capability and motivation from nation states to cyber criminals. In December last year, the UK and its allies exposed a series of attempts by the Russian Intelligence Services to target high-profile individuals and entities through cyber operations. The Government Cyber Security Strategy (2022) includes as its key objectives 'protect against cyber attack', 'detect cyber security events', and 'develop the right cyber security skills, knowledge and culture' in order to ensure that the Government’s critical functions are cyber resilient. The NSCS Active Cyber Defence (ACD) programme has several core services, including the Takedown Service and Protective Domain Name Service or PDNS. In 2022, the total number of takedowns conducted by the Takedown Service was 2.4 million. The same year, PDNS blocked over 5 million requests for domains associated with ransomware, a significant contribution to protecting UK organisations from this threat. We have a comprehensive approach to attract and develop new talent, and to upskill cyber professionals. This includes the cyber apprenticeship and Fast Stream programmes. Cross-government awareness campaigns and training courses are available for all civil servants, including accredited and examination-based learning. We were recently recognised amongst the 2023 Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers nationally. We provide training for specific cyber roles and mid-career switchers with a high level of core skills. At a national level, the Government is supporting the demand for skilled people in the strong and growing cyber industry with a diverse range of skills interventions. The Government is also looking at long-term solutions, including through the Digital and Computing Skills and Education Taskforce and support for the UK Cyber Security Council.

Civil Service: Translation Services

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on what the cost to the public purse was for the use of translators in the Civil Service since 2013.

Alex Burghart: The Cabinet Office does not hold the cost and spend for using translators across the Civil Service centrally. Such professional services are procured by individual departments. The Cabinet Office does use translation services on occasion where necessary but we do not record the cost of these services separately from the provision of other professional services. Therefore, a detailed review of invoices from the Cabinet Office would be required to estimate the amount spent since 2013 which would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.

Cybersecurity

Keir Mather: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his oral contribution of 18 January 2024, Official Report, column 1003, what recent comparative assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of steps being taken to understand the risks associated with (a) cyber security and (b) red-rated computer systems in (i) the UK and (ii) othercountries.

Alex Burghart: The National Cyber Strategy 2022 sets out the Government’s ambitions to raise levels of resilience across all sectors by 2025, with a particular focus on our Critical National Infrastructure and making government an exemplar. We are also strengthening protections to online services and connected consumer devices to reduce the cyber security burden on UK citizens. We continually assess cyber risk and the implementation of the National Cyber Strategy. In August 2023, we published the first Annual Progress Report for the National Cyber Strategy 2022. The report demonstrates our progress against the five strategic objectives, demonstrating how we have adapted to a significantly shifting geopolitical landscape. It supports our aim to be transparent in the way we work and reinforces the UK’s status as a leading, responsible and democratic cyber power. The report highlighted the success in improving cyber resilience through the NCSC Cyber Action Plan and Cyber Essentials as well as disruptions such as the first tranche of cyber sanctions and the takedown of the GENESIS marketplace, a go-to service for cyber-criminals. During the formulation of the Legacy IT Assessment Risk Framework, input was sought from various commercial and governmental entities to gather insights. These comparative assessments, conducted during the framework's design phase, aimed to strike a balance between aligning with industry standards for user familiarity and addressing the specific requirements of a standardised cross-government framework for evaluating risks associated with legacy digital technology assets.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to lengthen the time in which a complaint may be brought to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Alex Burghart: The time limit for making a complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is comparable to other ombudsman institutions and may be set aside if special circumstances exist.

Military Intervention: Yemen

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 23 January 2024 on Action against Houthi Maritime Attacks, Official Report, column 155, when the Government plans to publish the legal advice.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Government's policy papers entitled (a) Summary of the UK Government Legal Position: The legality of UK military action to target Houthi facilities in Yemen on 12 January 2024, published on 12 January 2024 and (b) Summary of the UK Government Legal Position: The legality of UK military action to target Houthi facilities in Yemen on 22 January 2024, published on 23 January 2024, if the Government will publish the full legal advice on the military action of (i) 11 and (ii) 22 January 2024.

John Glen: The Government published a summary of its legal position on the legality of UK military action to target Houthi facilities in Yemen on 12 January 2024. It published a further summary on 23 January 2024 following further military action, which confirmed that the legal basis for the further military action remains the same. These are available on the gov.uk website and I have placed a copy in the Libraries of the House. We acted fully in line with international law, in self-defence and in response to a persistent threat. The strikes were limited to carefully selected targets, with maximum care taken to protect civilian lives.

Treasury

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the level of ATM interchange fees in the context of trends in the level of the cost of (a) labour and (b) the distribution of non-branch ATMs.

Bim Afolami: The government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups. The government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. The FCA is currently holding a consultation on its proposed regulatory approach: FCA Access to Cash Consultation Decisions regarding the funding arrangements of an ATM network are taken by the parties involved. LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Allan Dorans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the regulation of car insurance premiums.

Bim Afolami: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including the financial services regulators, on an ongoing basis. Insurers make commercial decisions about the pricing of insurance based on their assessment on the likelihood and expected cost of a claim. The Government does not intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers as this could damage competition in the market. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent regulator and responsible for supervising the insurance industry. The FCA have introduced several reforms, including the Consumer Duty rules, to ensure consumers are treated fairly in regard to pricing.

Hong Kong: Financial Services

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the viability of Hong Kong as an international financial centre.

Bim Afolami: The government monitors the operation and functioning of the international financial system on an ongoing basis. As noted in the latest Six-Monthly report on Hong Kong, published by the FCDO on 19 September 2023, Hong Kong continues to be recognised as an international financial centre with sole discretion over its monetary and financial policies.

Hartley Pensions: Insolvency

Claire Hanna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide compensation for self-invested personal pension holders affected by Hartley Pensions entering administration.

Bim Afolami: The Government is aware of the situation regarding Hartley Pensions, and we offer our sympathy to the customers affected. The FCA is responsible for regulating firms that provide self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) and are working to ensure the best outcome for Hartley customers. SIPP providers must also comply with the relevant rules overseen by HMRC. Unfortunately, the Government cannot comment on any issues relating to an ongoing administration or court case.

Limited Liability

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of active limited partnerships there were in each year since 2017.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC does not hold information on the number of active Limited Partnerships.

Department for Transport

Utilities: Repairs and Maintenance

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the powers available to Local Authorities to hold utility companies to account for defects left behind after excavation work on grassed areas and grass verges.

Guy Opperman: Highway authorities have a range of powers to deal with utility street works. If the grassed area or verge is part of the public highway, utility companies carrying out excavations need to apply for a permit from the relevant highway authority, and they must reinstate them after works have been completed in line with requirements in the Specification for Reinstatement of Openings in the Highway (SROH). Authorities can inspect the quality of the reinstatement, during works and up to two years later, and can require any defects to be repaired.   New guidance and regulations introducing a performance-based inspections regime came into force on 1 April 2023. The new regime enables highway authorities to carry out more inspections of poorly performing utility companies.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of trends in car insurance prices in the last 12 months.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with car insurance providers on the potential impact of insurance premiums on the number of new drivers on the roads.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made on the potential impact of increased insurance premiums for young drivers on (a) affordability and (b) the increased risk of uninsured drivers.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports that insurance premiums for 17 to 20-year-olds have risen by more than £1,000 since last year.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance and trends in the market.It is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.The Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority rules.

Motor Vehicles: Theft

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held recent discussions with vehicle manufacturers on the adequacy of onboard security measures to prevent vehicle thefts.

Guy Opperman: The Government is committed to reducing vehicle crime and new vehicles have a range of features fitted on a mandatory basis to deter theft of and from vehicles. In addition, the Criminal Justice Bill will create offences aimed at reducing vehicle crime.

Road Works

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's news story entitled New street works regime to clamp down on pothole pain, published on 31 March 2023, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the new street works regime.

Guy Opperman: New guidance and regulations introducing a performance-based inspections regime came into force on 1 April 2023. The new regime enables highway authorities to carry out more inspections of poorly performing utility companies.It is too early to assess the effectiveness of the new regime, however my officials are using the Government’s digital service Street Manager to gather data. The Department liaises with highway authorities and utility companies continuously to monitor and discuss ways to improve performance. Delivering on its plan for drivers, the Government has launched a street works consultation including a proposal to direct at least 50% of money from lane rental schemes to be used to improve roads and repair potholes. Lane rental schemes allow local highway authorities to charge organisations for the time that street and road works occupy the road. Lane rental schemes allow local highway authorities to charge organisations for the time that street and road works occupy the road.

Speed Limits

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 3 July 2023 to Question 191368 on Motorways: Speed Limits, and the report entitled Evaluation of the National HGV Speed Limit Increase in England and Wales, Year 2 Interim Report, published in March 2019, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of each 1mph increase to the speed limit on (a) motorways and (b) dual carriageways on (i) levels of (A) productivity and (B) economic growth and (ii) the cost of transporting goods.

Guy Opperman: No assessment of this specific nature has been undertaken.

Shipping: Conditions of Employment

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made implementing the nine-point plan for seafarers published on 6 July 2022.

Guy Opperman: The Government has made substantial progress on implementing its Nine Point Plan for Seafarer Protections. The UK continues to play a leading global role in improving seafarer welfare.

Motorcycles: Carbon Emissions

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) architectural and (b) safety requirements for L-Category vehicles on the transition of those vehicles to net zero emissions.

Anthony Browne: Zero emission L-category vehicles can currently be brought to market through the existing regulatory regime which includes electrical safety requirements. These type approval standards primarily flow from international regulations which are constantly monitored to ensure they remain fit for purpose with respect to evolving technology.We expect to consult on introducing a new GB type approval scheme in the future which will provide an opportunity to reflect on the potential for new categories or technical requirements.

Motorcycles: Carbon Emissions

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 3453 on Motorcycles: Carbon Emissions, what progress he has made on delivering powered light vehicle action plan items (a) 1, (b) 4, (c) 5, (d) 7, (e) 8 and (f) 10.

Anthony Browne: The Government continues to engage with industry to deliver the Motorcycle Industry Association and Zemo Partnership’s Action Plan where appropriate.On action 1, pressures on the legislative timetable mean that Government is not planning to legislate for micromobility in the Fourth Session but remains committed to obtaining further evidence for future legislation to strengthen the evidence base.On action 4, the plug-in motorcycle grant, introduced in 2017 to stimulate the early market for zero emission mopeds and motorcycles, has provided over £8m to support the purchase of over 12,000 zero emission mopeds and motorcycles.On action 5, Government recently worked with the Energy Saving Trust to promote zero emission L-category vehicles to consumers and businesses where they had potential to significantly decarbonise personal transport and light freight, enabling people to choose how best to make journeys.On action 7, the Government published its Future of Transport Rural Transport Innovation guidance in November 2023. This set out how innovative new transport technologies and services can help local authorities respond to rural-specific transport challenges, as well as making up to £3 million available for local authorities to trial and test these technologies.On action 8, the Department will continue to engage with Local Authorities to help support them decarbonise their transport systems.On action 10, as the zero-emission powered light vehicle sector grows, Government will continue to work with the sector to support and consider how to best overcome demand side challenges, including the infrastructure needs of these vehicles.

Motorcycles: Carbon Emissions

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5003 on Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on the UK L-Category sector of the creation of a new vehicle category as a result of regulatory misalignment with international markets.

Anthony Browne: L-category vehicles must be type approved to technical standards that primarily flow from international regulations. These are constantly monitored to ensure they remain fit for purpose with respect to evolving technology.We expect to consult on introducing a new GB type approval scheme in the future which will provide an opportunity to reflect on the potential for new categories and technical requirements.

Department for Transport: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.

Anthony Browne: ‘Powering Up Britain: Net Zero Growth Plan’ sets out how the Government will decarbonise all sectors of the UK economy to meet net zero by 2050. The accompanying ‘Carbon Budget Delivery Plan’ sets out the detail of the package of proposals and policies that will enable legal targets on carbon budgets and net zero to be met. The Government is making good progress on delivering these policies. In transport, the zero-emission vehicle mandate covering new cars and vans sold in Great Britain entered into force in January 2024 and is the world’s most ambitious regulation of its kind.

Motor Vehicles: Carbon Emissions

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with his international counterparts on the potential merits of implementing a zero emissions vehicle mandate in their own countries.

Anthony Browne: The Secretary of State has done so frequently in the past, particularly at COP28, and will do so again when the opportunity arises.

Rapid Transit Systems: West Yorkshire

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the extent to which (a) funding and (b) other commitments for the new West Yorkshire mass transit system referenced on page 25 of the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, are additional to those committed to under the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements.

Huw Merriman: Following the announcement of Network North, and as set out here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/city-region-sustainable-transport-settlements-2/network-north-crsts2-indicative-allocations-4-october-2023 the second round of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS2) indicative allocations for West Yorkshire Combined Authority were uplifted from £1.326bn to £2.115bn, an additional £789m as a result of savings from the cancellation of phase 2 of HS2. £500m of CRSTS2 funding is expected to go towards the delivery of the West Yorkshire mass transit system.Network North also announced an additional £2bn of funding to be made available to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority from CRSTS3 and beyond, as a result of savings from the cancellation of phase 2 of HS2. We expect this funding will enable the authority to deliver Phase 1 of West Yorkshire Mass Transit.

Railway Stations: Haxby

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, what the (a) rail network enhancements pipeline status and (b) project acceleration in a controlled environment stage is of the planned upgrades to Haxby Station; and when approval for this project was granted.

Huw Merriman: The Haxby station project is at the Develop stage of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. An Outline Business Case has been completed by the City of York Council. The current PACE stage for the Haxby project is Engineering Stage 4, which is being progressed by the City of York Council. Engineering Stage 5 is due to commence later in 2024.

Railways

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for the publication of the draft Rail Reform Bill.

Huw Merriman: We will be bringing forward a draft Bill on Great British Railways (GBR) for pre-legislative scrutiny in this session.

Railways

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an estimate of the (a) proportion of the UK population that never or rarely uses the railway and (b) the revenue potential of that group.

Huw Merriman: In 2022, 45 per cent of people in England said that they use surface rail less than once a year or never. A further 18 per cent say they use the rail once or twice per year. (table NTS0313) The Great British Railways Transition Team and individual rail operators undertake their own work to understand the potential revenue from people that could be attracted to using rail more in the future. The Great British Rail Sale currently underway is a prime example of the initiatives the industry is taking, supported by the department, to attract more people to rail, helping grow revenue and reduce public subsidy.

Railways

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a passenger rail growth target.

Huw Merriman: We are working closely with the industry and Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) to grow passenger numbers and revenues post-COVID, including introducing revenue growth incentives and targets for individual rail operators.

Roads: Darlington

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has allocated to Darlington Borough Council for (a) pothole and (b) other road repairs in each year since 2019.

Guy Opperman: Funding for pothole and road maintenance in Darlington is allocated to Tees Valley Combined Authority, not the borough council.

Railways

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with train operating companies on the adequacy of (a) staffing and (b) service levels.

Huw Merriman: The Department regularly meets with representatives from the train operators to discuss and hold them to account for their service provision. We expect operators to ensure that they have the necessary staffing in place so they can deliver the punctual, reliable services that passengers and taxpayers deserve.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Post Offices

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether DVLA services will be available at post offices after 31 March 2024.

Guy Opperman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency awarded Post Office Ltd a contract to provide some services. The contract starts on 1 April 2024 and is for one year, with an option to extend for a further two one year periods.

Department for Education

Plagiarism: Artificial Intelligence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that artificial intelligence is not used for plagiarism by students in (a) schools and (b) universities.

Damian Hinds: The department wishes to capitalise on the opportunities technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), presents for education as well as addressing its risks and challenges.The department published an overarching policy paper on generative AI in education in March 2023. This paper includes a section on formal assessments and is clear that schools, colleges, universities, and exam boards need to continue to take reasonable steps to prevent malpractice involving the use of generative AI.There are strict rules in place, set by exam boards, to ensure pupils’ work is their own. Sanctions for cheating are serious, and they include being disqualified from a qualification. The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England and speaks regularly with exam boards about risks, including malpractice risks. Ofqual expects regulated exam boards to carefully consider the potential impacts AI may have on their qualifications and, where necessary, make changes to the way in which their qualifications are designed or delivered in response.In March 2023, The Joint Council for Qualifications published gudiance on the use of AI in assessments to support teachers and exam centres in protecting the integrity of qualifications. This guidance includes information on what counts as AI misuse and the requirements for teachers and exam centres to help prevent and detect malpractice. The guidance is available at: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/malpractice/artificial-intelligence/.The UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment has also issued advice on how AI is catalysing good pedagogical practice in higher education (HE). Universities must ensure there is rigour and consistency in assessment practices and that the awards and qualifications granted to students are credible and hold their value, which includes identifying cheating using AI. This is a condition of universities’ registration with the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS has also given advice to HE providers on contract cheating and essay mills.

Vocational Guidance

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the number of career advisers working in schools.

Damian Hinds: Information on the state-funded school workforce in England, including the number of staff and subjects taught, is published in the annual ‘School workforce in England’ national statistics release, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. The figures in the school workforce census do not represent the total number of careers advisers, since many schools and colleges commission the services of an external, qualified careers professional. Schools are encouraged to search for qualified careers practitioners in their area on the UK Register of Career Development Professionals, which is hosted by the Career Development Institute.

Schools: Violence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers have reported physical abuse by pupils in the London Borough of Havering in each of the last three years.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not held by the department.The department collects information on suspensions and permanent exclusions by reason, including physical abuse against an adult. This is published in the ‘Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England’ national statistics release, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions-in-england/2021-22-summer-term.The following links from the ‘create your own table’ section of the release show the number of suspensions and permanent exclusions from Havering, including a reason of physical abuse against an adult: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/73082d40-c091-46c4-ff84-08dc1c7e70f9 and https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7bde4a81-9b2c-4fa3-9652-08dc1cb7c782. Since 2020/21, suspensions and permanent exclusions can have up to three reasons. Before 2020/21, schools were asked to give one main reason. Therefore, figures for earlier years are not comparable to those from 2020/21 onwards.Creating school cultures with high expectations of behaviour is a priority for the government. The department supports head teachers in using exclusion, where warranted, as a part of an approach to create calm, safe and supportive environments where both pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected. This includes supporting using permanent exclusion in instances where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school.

Schools: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) primary and (b) secondary school provision in Romford constituency.

Damian Hinds: All schools in Romford are Ofsted ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. At primary phase, almost all schools are above the national and local authority average for the percentage achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. Secondary schools in Romford paint a similar picture for key stage 4 where all schools but one are above the national average for pupils achieving standard and strong passes in both English and mathematics GCSE.Over the period from 2009/10 to 2022/23, pupil numbers in Havering increased by 29% at primary phase. Primary numbers are forecast to rise by a further 2.9% by 2024/25.In the Romford planning area, school capacity data (SCAP) for 2022 showed a changing forecast position from 6.8% spare capacity in the 2022/23 academic year to a shortfall position of 1.2% in 2024/25.The department is co-ordinating the delivery of two primary free school projects in Havering, which will ease localised place pressure, which is associated with significant housing development, in the Rainham and Romford planning areas.Over the period from 2009/10 to 2022/23 pupil numbers in Havering decreased by 0.6% at secondary phase. Secondary numbers are forecast to rise by 3.8% by 2024/25.The Romford constituency falls within the central secondary planning area where SCAP data captured in 2022 again shows a changing position. Forecasts showed spare capacity of 7.3% in the 2022/23 academic year.

Department for Education: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what targets her Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.

Damian Hinds: The department sets out its plans to set targets to meet net zero in ‘Sustainability and Climate Change: a strategy for the education and children’s services systems’, which was published in April 2022 and can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy/sustainability-and-climate-change-a-strategy-for-the-education-and-childrens-services-systems.The department is on track to set science-based targets from 2025, ensuring the department plays its part in reducing public sector emissions by 50% by the end of Carbon Budget 5 in 2032 and by 75% by the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037, against a 2017 baseline.To support the monitoring of targets, the department is developing a 2017 baseline for schools and maintained early years settings. The department has supported the publication of a standardised reporting framework for higher and further education, and the standardised reporting framework for nurseries and schools is due to be published this year.

Apprentices: Taxation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2024 to Question 7553 on Apprentices: Taxation, what the process is for the reallocation of funds in apprenticeship accounts that have expired; and what the destination of those funds were in the latest period for which data is available.

Robert Halfon: The funds in levy-paying employers’ apprenticeship service accounts are distinct from, and operate on a different basis to, the department’s apprenticeships budget. The former represents funding for apprenticeships notionally available for use by individual levy-paying employers over a two-year period. The latter represents the total amount of funding available annually to support apprenticeships in England for all employers, including those who do not pay the apprenticeship levy.The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are notionally hypothecated based on their levy contributions over a two-year period. These funds do not constitute a ‘physical’ pot of money; they should be considered more as credit that is available for each levy-paying employer to use if they wish.When a levy-paying employer has an employee on an apprenticeship, their account will show their available funds being debited each month to reflect the cost of this training and assessment. In parallel but entirely separately, the training provider receives an equivalent value monthly payment directly from the department’s apprenticeships budget. These payments do not actually come from levy-paying employers’ accounts.Since available funds in each levy-paying employer’s account are notionally hypothecated, there are no monies to ‘reallocate’ when unused funds expire after 24 months. The credit is either drawn down, and equivalent payments separately made to training providers from the department’s annual budget, or expires when not used and the department’s annual budget remains the same). The government expires funds after 24 months because otherwise levy-paying employers would accrue unreasonably large balances, with the potential to create financial commitments that the government has not planned to meet.On average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent over the last two financial years. If the department’s apprenticeships budget is not fully spent by the end of the financial year, funds are returned to HM Treasury in line with standard practice set out in the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.

T-Levels

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on introducing T Levels in (a) hair, beauty and aesthetics, (b) craft and design, (c) media broadcast and production and (d) catering.

Robert Halfon: The department, working closely with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), has been making progress on the four T Levels deferred in 2023.T Levels in ‘Craft and Design’, and ‘Media, Broadcast and Production’ will be available from this September and providers will receive final specifications in order to prepare for their delivery in due course.On ‘Hair, Barbering and Beauty Therapy’ and ‘Catering’, the department has continued to engage closely with employers. Next steps for the ‘Hair, Barbering and Beauty Therapy’ route will be announced shortly. For ‘Catering’, IfATE have completed a wider route review of Catering and will be engaging with employers and providers over the coming weeks. The department we will finalise arrangements for this T Level before the summer.The department has also been ensuring progress is made with regard to T Levels in ‘Animal Care and Management’ and ‘Marketing’, with both proceeding on schedule for delivery in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of changes to SEND Regulations in 2014.

David Johnston: As part of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) review, the department examined how the SEND system has evolved since 2014 and how the department could ensure it works best for all families with effective and sustainable use of resources.During the review, the department heard frequently that, whilst the 2014 reforms had high aspirations and were underpinned by principles that continue to be broadly supported, insufficient attention was paid to their implementation which meant their ambitions were never fully realised.That is why the department has committed in the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, and reaffirmed in the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, to support delivery of the new reforms through a £70 million Change Programme which was launched in September 2023. The department is working through nine Change Programme Partnerships, covering 32 local areas, to test and refine key reform proposals and to support local SEND and AP systems across the country to manage local improvement.

Teachers: Safety

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that teachers are protected from physical harm by students at school.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide self defence training to secondary school teachers.

Damian Hinds: No teacher should feel unsafe or face violence or abuse in the workplace. The government is clear all school employers, including trusts, have a duty to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their employees. The government has taken decisive action to improve pupils’ behaviour to ensure all schools are calm, safe, and supportive environments where pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected.The department supports head teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools. To support schools in doing so, the department has strengthened the behaviour in schools guidance, the primary source of help and support for schools on developing and implementing a behaviour policy that can create a school culture which has high expectations of all pupils. This guidance outlines effective strategies that will encourage good behaviour and the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour. The government also backs head teachers to use exclusions when required, as a last resort. This includes using permanent exclusion when allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school.The government has no plans to introduce self-defence training for teachers. The National Professional Qualification (NPQ) in Leading Behaviour and Culture is relevant for teachers, leaders and non-teaching staff who want to develop their understanding of contemporary practice and research around promoting and supporting positive behaviour. £184 million has been invested into providing fully-funded NPQs for teaching staff across the country to deliver 150,000 NPQs up until the 2023/24 academic year.The government is providing £10 million of funding for the Behaviour Hubs programmes to enable schools and multi-academy trusts with exemplary behaviour cultures and practices to work in partnership with those that want to improve their behaviour culture.

Special Educational Needs

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities to reduce the time taken to complete education, health and care plans.

David Johnston: The department wants to ensure that Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, where required, are issued as quickly as possible, so that children and young people can access the support they need.In March 2023, the government set out its plans to reform and improve the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system through its SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan. It commits to establishing a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes, and are well prepared for adulthood and employment.As part of these reforms, the department is currently testing measures to deliver a nationally consistent EHC plan system to improve the quality and speed with which support is put in place.Where local authorities are failing to deliver consistent outcomes for children and young people with SEND, the department works with them using a range of improvement programmes and SEND specialist advisors to address weaknesses.Following the joint SEND local area revisit by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in 2022, an Improvement Notice was issued to Devon County Council with a requirement to develop an Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) that addressed the four areas of weakness including one relating to EHC plans. In line with the Improvement Notice, the APP is subject to rigorous monitoring by the department and NHS England and the department continues to work closely with the local area to ensure they are supported in addressing issues and driving improvements to services.

Pre-school education

Ashley Dalton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) the requirement for maintained nursery schools to have at least one teacher with qualified teacher status and (b) other Ofsted requirements on the levels of Government support required for maintained nursery schools.

David Johnston: The government recognises that maintained nursery schools make a valuable contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children. They are high-quality providers: in August 2023, 62% of maintained nursery schools were judged to be outstanding by Ofsted and 35% were judged to be good. Like other early years providers, they are required to follow the early years foundation stage statutory framework.As a result of being maintained schools, certain requirements are placed on maintained nursery schools, such as having to have at least one qualified teacher, a special educational needs coordinator and a head teacher. These are costs that other small early years providers do not face. In recognition of this, the government provides local authorities with supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools in their areas.The department currently provides local authorities with around £70 million a year in supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools. For 2024/25, the department will increase this in line with the national average uplift to three and four year-old rates for the vast majority of local authorities. The department will also add additional funding for teachers’ pay and pensions into this supplementary funding.

Pupils: Transgender People

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds information on the number of children that have identified as transgender in schools in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: The department does not hold information regarding the number of children that have identified as transgender in schools.The NHS has published annual statistics on the number of referrals to gender identity development services, including for under-18s. These statistics can be accessed at: https://gids.nhs.uk/about-us/number-of-referrals/.On 19 December 2023, the department published draft guidance for consultation in relation to children who are questioning their gender. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and will close at 11:59pm on 12 March 2024. This is accessible at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/equalities-political-impartiality-anti-bullying-team/gender-questioning-children-proposed-guidance/consultation/subpage.2023-12-19.3445648010/.

Religion: Education

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to require all students undertaking the Advanced British Standard to study religious education until the age of 18.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason religious education has not been included in the consultation document for the Advanced British Standard.

Damian Hinds: The department launched a consultation on 14 December 2023 on our proposals for the Advanced British Standard, seeking views on the design of the overall programme. This includes seeking views on the approach to agreeing subjects included, and on what should be covered in the Employability, Enrichment and Pastoral (EEP) offer for all students. The government firmly believes that religious education (RE) is important, which is why it remains compulsory for all state-funded schools in England, including academies and free schools, in each year group. Quality RE can develop knowledge of British values and traditions and refine pupils’ ability to construct well-informed, balanced, and structured arguments. The publication of the consultation on 14 December 2023 marks a new phase of working in partnership with students, teachers, leaders, schools, colleges, universities, and employers to develop these proposals. The department will consult extensively over the coming months, and this will inform our plan for subjects and EEP, which the department will set out in a White Paper this year.

Schools: Translation Services

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the cost to the public purse for the translation of school materials into languages other than English in each year since 2010.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the cost to the public purse was for providing language translators in schools in each year since 2013.

Damian Hinds: School funding is distributed by the department fairly, based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics. It is then for school heads and governors to decide how this money is spent, in line with their school’s context.The department does not hold the cost and spending for translating school materials into non-English languages or providing language translators in schools. Such professional services are procured by individual schools and local authorities. Local authorities can ‘de-delegate’ funding from maintained schools in their area to meet the costs to improve the performance of underperforming pupils from ethnic minority groups and meeting the specific needs of bilingual pupils, and local authorities submit data on this spending as part of their annual returns to the department. ‘De-delegated’ funding is spent centrally by local authorities to meet costs faced by maintained schools in their area.

Schools: Discipline

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote student discipline in schools.

Damian Hinds: Improving standards of pupil behaviour in schools is a priority for this government. All schools should be calm, safe and supportive environments where all pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected.The department has an ambitious programme of work to support teachers and leaders to improve behaviour in their schools. This includes the following recently updated guidance: The behaviour in schools guidance, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-in-schools--2.The school suspension and permanent exclusion guidance, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion.The searching, screening and confiscation guidance, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation. These are practical tools to help schools create environments which young people want to attend.The national professional qualification (NPQ) in leading behaviour and culture is relevant for teachers, leaders and non-teaching staff who want to develop their understanding of contemporary practice and research around promoting and supporting positive behaviour. £184 million has been invested into providing fully funded NPQs for teaching staff across the country to deliver 150,000 NPQs up until the 2023/2024 annual year.The department is also investing £10 million through the behaviour hubs programme to support schools. 49 lead schools and ten lead multi-academy trusts work with schools that want and need to turn around their pupils’ behaviour, alongside a central offer of support and taskforce of advisers. The programme will support up to 700 partner schools during the three years it is scheduled to run.New non-statutory guidance will also aim to ensure that head teachers and members of staff have a clear mandate and practical advice to prohibit mobile phone use throughout the school day. The guidance will also consider how schools should prohibit the use of smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones. This will help to foster an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning.The national behaviour survey runs termly to track experiences and perceptions of pupil behaviour in schools. The most recent data available is for the 2021/2022 academic year, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-behaviour-survey-reports.

Vocational Guidance

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to help ensure that careers education, advice, information and guidance is compliant with section 42B of the Education Act 1997.

Robert Halfon: Section 42B of the Education Act 1997 requires schools to provide at least six opportunities for providers of technical education and apprenticeships to speak to all pupils, during school years 8 to 13.During 2023/24, the first full academic year that the strengthened legislation has been in place, the department is supporting schools to comply and is monitoring impact. The department has introduced a ladder of support and intervention which is set out in its careers statutory guidance. This is to enforce the provider access legislation and to set out clear steps for tackling serious or persistent cases of non-compliance.Ofsted’s school inspection handbook has been updated to make clear that if a school is not meeting the requirements of the provider access legislation, inspectors will state this in the inspection report, and take this into account when arriving at a judgement about personal development.There is encouraging early evidence that young people’s awareness of the benefits of technical options is increasing. In the 2022/23 academic year, 92% of schools reported that most students had information about the full range of apprenticeships. 86% of schools reported that most students had meaningful encounters with further education colleges. Ofsted’s thematic review, published in September 2023, found that, in general, leaders understood their statutory responsibilities for careers, including those under the provider access legislation and they were making progress towards fully implementing the required changes.

Childcare

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the number of parents of 2-year-olds who have applied for the expanded childcare entitlement; and how many applications are yet to be processed.

David Johnston: The department will be providing an update on the childcare application system shortly.

Childcare

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of available childcare places per child in each region in England on 24 January 2024.

David Johnston: The department does not hold this information in the form requested. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England to ensure their sufficiency needs are met.

Special Educational Needs: Warrington

Andy Carter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Warrington Borough Council to help (a) support families with disabled children and (b) reduce the time taken to process education, health and care plans.

David Johnston: Following the Area Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inspection of Warrington Local Area Partnership (LAP), conducted by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission and published in May 2023, departmental officials have been working alongside NHS England SEND advisers to provide support and challenge to the LAP to address the areas for improvement highlighted in the report. These areas for improvement include:The efficiency and quality of information gathering processes.Health services that better meet children and young people’s needs.The effectiveness of systems to share information about children and young people’s needs.The timeliness of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. Responding to the inspection report, Warrington LAP have updated their SEND strategy and published a strategic SEND improvement plan. This sets out how the Partnership will improve services for children and young people with SEND in the area and address the areas for improvement highlighted in the inspection report. The department monitors progress against these plans at regular intervals. Both documents are available at: https://www.warrington.gov.uk/send-inspection-review. In 2022, the rate of EHC plans, excluding exceptions, issued within 20 weeks in Warrington was 48.2%, compared with a national average of 49.2%. This data is accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. The department has increased Warrington's dedicated schools grant from £190 million in 2021/22 to over £238 million in 2024/25. This includes an increase of 33% in the high needs block from £25.6 million in 2021 to over £34.2 million in 2024/25.

Special Educational Needs: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with the Department of Education in Northern Ireland on the adequacy of funding for SEND in schools in Northern Ireland.

David Johnston: As education is a devolved matter, the Department of Education in Northern Ireland is responsible for its education policies, including funding for Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) in schools.The department engages with the Department of Education in Northern Ireland at ministerial and official level on a range of areas, though, to date, this has not included a ministerial discussion on the adequacy of funding for SEND in schools in Northern Ireland.

Childcare

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a list of local authorities with sufficient childcare places to deliver (a) 15 hours of funded childcare for two-year-olds from April 2024 and (b) 30 hours of funded childcare for two-year-olds from September 2024.

David Johnston: Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare meets the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the 'Early education and childcare' statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. This guidance is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2.The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Special Educational Needs: Local Government

Andy Carter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve decision making by local authorities on special educational provision for children.

David Johnston: To support strategic decision-making, the department will introduce new local Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) partnerships that bring together delivery partners across local systems to support local authorities to strategically plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND and in AP. Partnerships will be expected to co-produce a Local Area Inclusion Plan based on robust evidence that will explain how the needs of children and young people aged 0-25 in the area will be met. The department is providing local authorities with guidance on partnerships and plans throughout the year to strengthen local governance and decision-making for SEND and AP and services. Soon, the department will be launching a national and local inclusion dashboard that will present published data on system health and performance to enable better decision-making at a national and local level and drive self-improvement across local areas.The department is also testing, via the Change Programme, whether using Multi Agency Panels for decision making about individuals in the Education, Health and Care plan process improves decision-making and parental confidence.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure SEND support funding is accessible to children of armed forces personnel.

David Johnston: The department wants all children to be able to reach their full potential and receive the right support to succeed in their education and in their move into adult life.The department allocates Special Educational Needs and Disability support funding to English local authorities and schools. This funding is accessible to children of armed forces personnel in the same way as it is to other children.Pupils aged 5 to 16 in state-funded education in England attract Service Pupil Premium (SPP) funding to the schools they attend if they have been recorded as having Service child status in any school census within the last six years. The SPP is currently worth £335 per eligible pupil annually and is intended to help schools support the wellbeing, and if appropriate the academic progress, of Service children.

Pupils: Attendance

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Department for Education's press release entitled Major national drive to improve school attendance, published on 8 January 2024, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of this policy on children with long term conditions.

Damian Hinds: Improving attendance remains a top priority for the department. This is why it has launched a national communications campaign to remind families that “moments matter, attendance counts”.The campaign reflects feedback from schools and local authorities and aims to primarily reach those parents whose children are taking preventable odd days of absence, or “avoidable absence”. It builds on NHS guidance and messages from the Chief Medical Officer’s letter to schools to reassure families that children can attend school with a mild cough or cold and that prolonged period of absence is likely to heighten a child’s anxiety about attending school in the future. The guidance can be found here: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/, and the letter can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-school-leaders-on-mild-illness-and-school-attendance/letter-to-school-leaders-on-mild-illness-and-school-attendance.The campaign is not aimed at parents of children who face greater barriers to attendance, such as pupils with long term medical conditions. Campaign materials shared with schools and local authorities reminded them that strategies to increase attendance should take a ‘support first’ approach in all instances. The department’s ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance expects schools to have sensitive conversations with children and families and work with them to put support in place for their individual needs. This guidance is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63049617e90e0729e63d3953/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf. Schools must also follow the ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ statutory guidance that outlines the support that pupils with medical conditions must receive at school so they have full access to education and it is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ce6a72e40f0b620a103bd53/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf.

Agriculture: Education

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the Department of Education in Northern Ireland on the potential merits of teaching agriculture in schools in Northern Ireland.

Damian Hinds: Education is devolved in Northern Ireland. Therefore, with a small number of exceptions, the department’s responsibilities relate to England only.In England, the science national curriculum has space for agriculture to be taught in various places. For example, in the science Key Stage 1 and 2 topics of ‘Plants’, and ‘Living things and their habitats’, the biology Key Stage 3 topics of ‘Reproduction’ (in plants, including fertilisation) and ‘Relationships in an ecosystem’, and the Key Stage 4 topics of ‘Evolution, inheritance and variation’.The department does not specify how schools should teach the curriculum, instead the national curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the department expects schools in England to cover in each subject. The department believes that teachers should be able to use their own knowledge, professional expertise and understanding of their pupils to determine what is the most appropriate way for them to teach, the aim here being that they develop the right approach for the pupils in their particular school.There is also an Agriculture, Land Management and Production T Level available to students in England. During the two-year programme, students will learn the core knowledge and skills that are needed for entry to a range of agriculture, land management and production occupations that include agricultural engineer, farmer, and tree surgeon, amongst a number of others.Whilst education is a devolved matter, if it would be helpful, departmental officials would be content to meet their relevant counterparts in the Department of Education and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland.

Universities: Students

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that students from the UK have access to places at UK universities.

Robert Halfon: This government is focused on levelling up opportunities so that every young person, regardless of their background or geographic location, can get the skills and training needed to secure rewarding, well-paid jobs. The department wants to ensure people have the opportunities that will open doors and create the talent pipeline that our country needs to prosper now and in the future.In 2021/22, Higher Education Statistics Agency data shows that UK students accounted for 85% of all undergraduate entrants to UK universities.A disadvantaged English domiciled 18-year-old is now 74% more likely to enter higher education (HE) than they were in 2010, and the department is working to further close the disadvantage gap with our Access and Participation reforms. HE providers registered with the Office for Students that intend to charge tuition fees above the basic amount are rewriting their access and participation plans to focus on raising attainment in school pupils. This will help ensure pupils have more options for post-18 study and that they are better equipped to choose the path that is right for them from higher technical qualifications and apprenticeships as well as degrees. Providers should have revised plans in place for September 2025, with the first wave being ready for September 2024.The government is committed to a sustainable funding model that supports high-quality provision, meets the skills needs of the country and maintains the world-class reputation of UK HE. The department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2024/25 academic year to deliver better value for students and to keep the cost of HE under control. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years.The government has also continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs each year. Maximum support has been increased by 2.8% for the current, 2023/24, academic year.

Teachers: Training

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to table 9.1 of her Department's publication entitled Initial teacher training applications for courses starting in the 2024 to 2025 academic year, published on 22 January 2024, how many candidates there were for each secondary subject by (a) region, (b) nation and (c) each other geographical breakdown available.

Damian Hinds: The department is working to ensure teaching remains an attractive, high-status profession, and will recruit and retain the best teachers in the subjects and areas they are needed most.The department publishes Initial Teacher Training (ITT) recruitment statistics each month, providing insight into ITT candidates applying for courses that start in the 2024/25 academic year. The most recent monthly publication was released on the 22 January 2024 and covers candidates that have applied to ITT courses up to this date. This is available at: https://www.apply-for-teacher-training.service.gov.uk/publications/monthly-statistics.Table 9.1 of the publication focusses on the number of candidates who have applied to secondary courses by subject. Table 10 of the publication provides further information about candidate applications to training providers, split by region. Additional breakdowns of ITT subject-level data, which splits candidates by the area they have applied from, is available to download in section 11, accessible at: https://www.apply-for-teacher-training.service.gov.uk/publications/monthly-statistics#downloads.

Bereavement Counselling: Teachers

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce bereavement training for teachers.

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department provides on bereavement support for children in educational settings.

Damian Hinds: Losing a loved one can be a devastating experience for a child. Schools can play an essential role in supporting children with bereavement by providing effective pastoral support and ensuring there is a supportive school culture.Schools are best placed to decide what pastoral support each pupil needs, including for children who have experienced a bereavement. To help schools make informed decisions about what support to provide, the department is offering every state school in England funding to train a senior mental health lead who can oversee a whole-school approach to mental wellbeing.This training equips mental health leads to identify pupils or groups of pupils, which could include children affected by bereavement, in need of mental wellbeing support and to put in place effective support, working in partnership with specialists and families as needed. The training also supports leads to identify the training needs of other school staff, ensuring all staff can recognise and respond to pupils’ mental health concerns.The department has recently launched a mental health lead resource hub and a targeted mental wellbeing support toolkit, both of which signpost mental health leads and other school staff toward resources and guidance, including support for bereavement.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Birmingham City Council: Finance

Gary Sambrook: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish the correspondence between Birmingham City Council and his Department requesting exceptional financial support by way of (a) increasing council tax above the threshold and (b) capitalisation directions to balance their budget for 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years.

Simon Hoare: On 5 December, the Secretary of State for DLUHC published his local government finance policy statement 2024-2025. This sets out the support available, via the Exceptional Financial Support framework, to councils with specific and evidenced concerns about their ability to set or maintain a balanced budget, including where there has been local financial failure. It also confirms that as part of that process, the government will consider representations from councils, including on council tax provision.After Birmingham City Council issued two s.114 notices in October 2023 relating to its equal pay liabilities, commissioners were appointed at the council to ensure compliance with the Local Government Best Value Duty.Details of correspondence between councils and the department relating to exceptional financial support are not normally disclosed.

National Parks and Conservation Areas: Permitted Development Rights

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's consultation on Permitted development rights, which closed on 25 September 2023, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of extending permitted development rights in (a) national parks and (b) other protected landscapes to allow the conversion of (i) barns and (ii) other rural buildings for residential use on the ability of national park authorities to support the statutory purpose of national parks to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area.

Lee Rowley: We are currently considering the responses received to the consultation, including from stakeholders representing National Parks and other protected areas, and will make further announcements in due course.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Office for Life Sciences

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has had meetings with the Office for Life Sciences since 1 January 2023.

Simon Hoare: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

Housing: Standards

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps his Department has taken to help improve the living conditions in (a) local authority, (b) housing association and (c) private housing.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) local authority, (b) housing association and (c) private tenants on actions they can take to help reduce levels of damp in their homes.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of overcrowding on levels of (a) damp and (b) mould in homes.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with the social housing sector on the links between the prevalence of (a) damp and (b) mould and overcrowding.

Jacob Young: The Government is committed to halving the number of non-decent rented homes by 2030, building on the strong progress already made in improving the standards of rented homes since 2010. We are clear that everyone deserves to live in a home that is decent, safe and secure. We will bring the private rented sector under the scope of a Decent Homes Standard for the first time and have introduced Awaab’s Law, which will require social landlords to address hazards within a fixed time period.The English Housing Survey sets out levels of overcrowding and damp and mould in rented homes and details of the findings are available online.Our consolidated damp and mould guidance, developed with the Department for Health and Social Care covers the impacts of damp and mould on health, and sets out how all landlords in the private and rented sectors should address damp and mould.The Secretary of State for Levelling Up Housing and Communities wrote to all providers of social housing and to all local authority chief executives. In these letters he set out his expectation that providers go further than the letter of the Decent Homes Standard, and have particular regard to damp and mould, and that local authorities should take action to resolve poor housing conditions in their area.As I set out in my answer to Question UIN 8866 on 17 January 2024, we are committed to reducing overcrowding by increasing the supply of affordable housing and enabling councils and other social landlords to make better use of their existing stock. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country.

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 45 of the Government response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee report on Cladding: Progress of Remediation, CP 281, published on 3 September 2020, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking into direct ownership the freehold of a building for which access to (a) assess and (b) provide remediation is being prevented.

Lee Rowley: Building owners are responsible for remediating unsafe buildings and the government has made extensive funding available for them to do so. It is important that building owners fulfil their building safety responsibilities and where they do not that they are held to account. Where building owners are stalling, they can expect to be subject to enforcement action by a local authority, fire and rescue service or the Building Safety Regulator; we released a joint statement with key building safety bodies committing to this last year. Regulators have an extensive set of powers which allow them to compel building owners to assess and remediate their buildings.The Fire Safety Act 2021 and Building Safety Act 2022 strengthen enforcement tools for regulators, including introducing remediation orders which are issued by the First-tier Tribunal. These boost regulators’ existing powers under the Housing Act 2004 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Building owners who fail to comply with enforcement action can be subject to criminal penalties. The government has provided over £8 million in funding to local authorities to expand their enforcement teams.We also fund the Joint Inspection Team (JIT), a multidisciplinary team of experts which supports local authorities with inspections and enforcement; the JIT currently supports over a third of all local authority high-rise building safety inspections in England.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.

Lee Rowley: The Government set out how we would meet our commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors in the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of 'Powering Up Britain'.

Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish for each developer in the self-remediation scheme the target date by which they have undertaken to complete the remediation of relevant buildings.

Lee Rowley: Developers who have signed the developer remediation contract are obliged to send regular progress reports to the Department, and we publish developer performance data every quarter. The latest information is available here: Developer Remediation Contract data release: November 2023 - GOV.UK . As the dataset matures, we will look at ways to enhance the quarterly report.

Buildings: Insulation

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support residents of buildings with unsafe cladding.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Financial Conduct Authority and (b) Association of British Insurers on (i) the insurance pooling scheme for building safety and (ii) when the details of the scheme will be published.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the building safety fund.

Lee Rowley: All residential buildings above 11 metres in England now have a pathway to fix unsafe cladding, through either a taxpayer-funded scheme or developer-funded scheme; the Government has committed £5.1 billion to remove unsafe cladding from buildings. Five remediation schemes are underway:the ACM Cladding Remediation fund: open since 2018 and covers buildings with the most dangerous type of cladding like that on Grenfell;the Building Safety Fund: first opened in 2020 for buildings over 18 metres with other forms of unsafe cladding;the Cladding Safety Scheme: which was fully opened in July 2023 for buildings between 11 and 18 metres and is also open to new applications for 18m+ buildings outside of London;developers have now assumed direct responsibility for remediating all life-critical fire safety defects in more than 1,000 buildings, and;social housing providers are working to remediate buildings in their portfolios that require remediation.Residents must be at the heart of building safety. This includes the significant and disruptive works required to remediate buildings, with those responsible for the project and works considering residents as a key stakeholder throughout. To that end on 27 July 2023, we published the Code of Practice for the Remediation of Residential Buildings which sets our expectations for all remediation projects. The Code places residents at the heart of remediations projects as the key stakeholder and sets the standard for how we expect all remediation projects to account and deliver for residents.As of 31 December 2023, 950 buildings residential buildings over 18 metres in height in England have been deemed eligible for the Building Safety Fund due to the presence of unsafe non-ACM cladding. Of these, 486 (51%) have started or completed remediation and of those 231 (24%) have completed works.The then Minister for Housing last met with the FCA on 11 October 2023 and the Secretary of State met the Association of British Insurers on 13 December 2023. We continue to press the insurance industry to launch their scheme, which leaseholders need urgently. The Association of British Insurers released a public update on the scheme on their blog on 19 December 2023.In the last 6 months, both the Secretary of State and I have met with the FCA (on 11 October 2023) and the Association of British Insurers (on 18 August 2023, 27 November 2023 and 12 December 2023). The Secretary of State met the Association of British Insurers on 13 December 2023. We continue to press the insurance industry to launch their scheme, which leaseholders need urgently.

Markets

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support local markets.

Jacob Young: The Government is fully committed to supporting the businesses and communities that make our high streets and town centres successful. Markets can make a significant contribution to the vibrancy and diversity of our high streets and town centres.It is for local authorities, not central Government, to make decisions on running, supporting and investing in local markets in their areas.

Elections: Campaigns

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of adopting the Scottish Government's approach to applying digital imprints to election content posted by unregistered third parties.

Simon Hoare: The UK-wide digital imprint regime, introduced by the Elections Act 2022, is one of the most comprehensive digital imprint regimes in the world, applying to a wide range of material. The regime represents a substantial increase in transparency of digital political advertising for members of the public by requiring those promoting eligible digital campaigning material targeted at the UK electorate to include an imprint with their name and address.Our regime does require unregistered third parties promoting paid-for material and those promoting other electronic material on behalf of specific political entities listed in section 44 of the Act to include an imprint in the material.

Ministry of Justice

Probation: Drugs

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was spent by the probation service on drug treatment programs in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.

Edward Argar: Drug treatment in the community in England is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), via local authorities, not by the Ministry of Justice. As part of our ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, DHSC has invested an additional £532m over three years in increasing substance misuse treatment in England. This includes recruiting dedicated criminal justice focused staff who work across police, custody, courts and probation. Commissioning of treatment for offenders is different in Wales, and is a partnership between Police and Crime Commissioners, local Area Planning Boards and HM Prison and Probation Service. HMPPS has contributed £9.7m to this joint commissioning over the past three years, supporting the recruitment of criminal justice focused staff and dedicated staff with lived experience. The Ministry of Justice is committed to supporting offenders to engage with treatment to tackle the addictions that drive their crime. To do this, we have recruited Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators nationwide to build stronger links between probation and treatment providers, increased our capability to drug test offenders with a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement as part of a community sentence, and procured 650 additional laptops to enable prison leavers to attend initial appointments with community treatment pre-release.

Prisoner Escapes

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders were on an escape list on 1 January in each year since 2015.

Edward Argar: The following shows the number of prisoners on an escape list on 01 January of each year 2015-2024.Year *Number of Prisoners on Escape List Alert code (XEL, XELH **)2015563201629620172522018291201919520201672021101202211320231052024160 *First of January only for each year**Escape List, Escape List- Heightened A prisoner escapes from prison if they unlawfully gain their liberty by breaching the secure perimeter of a closed prison. A prisoner escapes from an escort if they are able to pass beyond the control of escorting staff and leave the escort, the vehicle or the premises (such as a court or hospital).The vast majority of escapes are recaptured by police either immediately or within a matter of hours and there are no cases of prison escapees remaining at large. Offenders who break the law will be punished – including extra time in jail when appropriate.Prisoners who pose an escape risk are identified and their ongoing risk is managed by placing them on the Escape List (E-List). Prisoners placed on the E-List are subject to additional security measures, restricted activity and regular review.Prison escapes are incredibly rare, and numbers have declined substantially in the last 10-15 years. Between 1997 and 2010, escapes from prisons were nearly 10 times higher than the subsequent 13 years.

Prisons: Drugs

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons have a drug recovery wing.

Edward Argar: As part of the ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, we are rolling out a wide range of interventions to support prisoners off drugs and into recovery. We have 7 prisons with a Drug Recovery Wing. These wings are testing a new approach to help prisoners with an opiate dependency achieve abstinence.Alongside this, we are increasing the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living (ISFL) wings, where prisoners commit to remaining free of illicit drugs with regular drug testing and incentives. We now have 70 prisons with an ISFL and aim to reach up to 100 by March 2025.

Prisons: Drugs

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons have a drug free wing.

Edward Argar: As part of the ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, the Ministry of Justice is rolling out a range of interventions to support prisoners off drugs and into recovery. We now have 70 prisons with an Incentivised Substance-Free Living (ISFL) wing, where prisoners commit to remaining free of illicit drugs with regular drug testing and incentives. We aim to reach up to 100 ISFLs by March 2025.7 of these prisons also have a Drug Recovery Wing, where we are testing a new approach to help prisoners with an opiate dependency achieve abstinence. These Drug Recovery Wings will support prisoners who are clinically ready to transition off opioid substitution treatment and be abstinent from both illicit drugs and prescribed substitutes.

Prisons: Radicalism

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were referred to Pathfinder for possible radicalisation in prison in each year since the scheme was introduced.

Edward Argar: All convicted terrorists are referred to Pathfinder upon entry to prison. Information on the number of persons in custody for terrorism connected offences is published. The most recent data is available here: Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation: Arrests, outcomes, and stop and search, Great Britain, quarterly update to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).The Ministry of Justice is unable to disclose the numbers of non-TACT connected offenders who are identified as posing a terrorist risk due to security considerations.

Department for Business and Trade

Military Aid: Israel

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2024 to Question 7392 on Military Aid: Israel, when offensive military equipment was last provided to Israel.

Greg Hands: HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.The most recent publication was on 16 January 2024 and covered licensing decisions made between 1 April - 30 June 2023.

Iron and Steel: Imports

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an estimate of the steel required to be imported following the potential closure of UK blast furnaces.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We have agreed to invest a historic £500 million at Port Talbot, so we can secure domestic steel production for the long term. While transitioning to electric arc, Tata plan to temporarily import steel substrates. These materials will then be processed at Tata Steel’s existing UK facilities, continuing to serve customers. Following the completion of the Electric Arc Furnace, domestic self-sufficiency would increase – from 10% of UK-sourced raw materials today to about three-quarters with an electric arc furnace, making UK steel production more resilient to adverse global events and supply chain risks.

Royal Mail: Greater London

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of Royal Mail’s fulfilment of the Universal Service Obligation in South London in 2023.

Kevin Hollinrake: As the independent regulator for the postal sector, it is for Ofcom to monitor Royal Mail’s delivery of the universal service obligation and decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations. Ofcom fined the business £5.6m for failing to meet its service delivery targets in 2022-23 and is meeting Royal Mail regularly to ensure service issues are addressed as a matter of urgency.

Royal Mail: Compensation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with Ofcom on compensating people who have experienced delays receiving mail from Royal Mail.

Kevin Hollinrake: The provision by Royal Mail of fair and reasonable redress in respect of delays to deliveries under its universal service obligation is a matter for Ofcom as the independent regulator of postal services.

Royal Mail: Standards

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what delivery office-level information Royal Mail provides to Ofcom.

Kevin Hollinrake: Ofcom’s regulatory framework for postal services includes a detailed system for monitoring and assessing Royal Mail’s performance. Under its regulatory framework, Ofcom receives relevant operational information from Royal Mail, including on individual delivery offices.

Postal Services: Public Consultation

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with Ofcom on its proposed consultation on potential options for the future of the universal postal service.

Kevin Hollinrake: Ministers and officials meet with Ofcom regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the regulatory authority for the postal sector, including the overall provision of the universal service obligation.

Royal Mail: Standards

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what enforcement action Ofcom has taken when Royal Mail has failed to meet its service delivery targets in each of the last five years.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with Ofcom on Royal Mail's performance against its delivery service targets.

Kevin Hollinrake: Ministers and officials meet with Ofcom regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the regulatory authority for the postal sector. However, as an independent regulator, it is for Ofcom to decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations. Ofcom publishes the decisions of its investigations into Royal Mail’s performance against its quality of service targets on its website: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/bulletins/enforcement-bulletin/all-closed-cases. The regulator fined the business £5.6m for failing to meet its service delivery targets in 2022-23.

Foreign Investment: Dispute Resolution

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to assess levels of risk in relation to the inclusion of Investor State Dispute Settlement clauses in trade deals.

Greg Hands: Inclusion of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in UK treaties is considered where it is in the UK's interests and where we agree with partners that it can play a useful role in supporting the bilateral investment relationship.Where the UK negotiates ISDS, it is in line with modern international best practice. This ensures that the mechanism delivers fair outcomes of disputes, has independent arbitrators bound by high ethical standards, and that proceedings are transparent.The UK has investment agreements containing ISDS provisions with around 90 trading partners. There has never been a successful ISDS claim against the UK.

Postal Services: Slough

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with Royal Mail on the adequacy of mail delivery in Slough constituency.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delayed (a) mail and (b) package deliveries on residents in Slough constituency.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with Royal Mail on (a) delayed and (b) missed postal deliveries.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delayed post on residents in the Slough constituency.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions she has had with the Post Office of the potential impact of delayed post on residents in Slough constituency.

Kevin Hollinrake: The delivery of post is the responsibility of Royal Mail as the designated universal service provider. It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards. The regulator fined the business £5.6m for failing to meet its service delivery targets in 2022-23 and is meeting Royal Mail regularly to ensure service issues are addressed as a matter of urgency. Whilst the Government does not have a formal role in Royal Mail’s operational decisions, I recently met the CEO of its parent company to raise concerns about Royal Mail’s performance and I will continue to raise the issue if performance does not improve.

Parental Leave

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what she is taking to help ensure that new parents are able to take the (a) maternity and (b) paternity leave that they are entitled to in the context of the rising cost of living.

Kevin Hollinrake: The UK has a generous system of parental leave and pay entitlements which include Maternity and Paternity Leave and Pay. The standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay and Paternity Pay is reviewed annually. Subject to parliamentary approval, from April 2024, it will increase by 6.7% from £172.48 to £184.03. Statutory parental payments are designed to offer a degree of earnings replacement and have never been intended to fully replace lost earnings. The Government also has provisions in place such as tax credits, child benefit and Universal Credit, which provide support with the cost of raising children.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.

Mr Steve Baker: The Government set out how we would meet our commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors of the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of 'Powering Up Britain'.The Northern Ireland Office is committed to minimising the impact we have on our environment and supporting the wider UK Government’s Net-Zero commitment. We are committed to utilising video conferencing and dial-in facilities rather than travelling to meetings, using public transport rather than cars and taxis when travelling to meetings, and ensuring that electricity usage is minimised by implementing energy-efficient equipment. In line with the Government alignment to TCFD disclosures, the Northern Ireland Office will be reporting future metrics and targets in our Annual Report & Accounts.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.

Fay Jones: The Government set out how we would meet our commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors of the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of 'Powering Up Britain'. The UK has halved its emissions, ahead of every other major economy, and we have grown our economy by over 70% since 1990. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that we are on track to meet the third. We have one of the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in the world, and we have set more stretching targets for 2030 than most countries. We plan to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, which is more than the EU, Japan or the United States.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions she has had with (a) environmental organisations and (b) charities on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.

Graham Stuart: My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, and I regularly meet with a wide range of stakeholders to discuss issues relating to energy security and net zero. This includes numerous recent discussions on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, including with environmental organisations and charities.

Livestock Industry: Energy

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she is taking steps to support (a) the meat industry and (b) independent butchers with high energy costs.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Bills Discount Scheme provides all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users with a baseline discount on high energy bills for 12 months from April 2023 until 31 March 2024. A higher level of support will be provided to some Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETIIs) for 70% of their energy. Industries eligible for this support include certain meat and fish processing businesses. A full list of eligible industries is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-discount-scheme-factsheet/energy-bills-discount-scheme-energy-and-trade-intense-industries-assessment-methodology#annex-a-list-of-eligible-sectors-for-energy-and-trade-intensive-industries

Electricity Generation

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what data her Department holds on the cost of constraint payments as a result of bad weather in each year since 2010.

Graham Stuart: The Electricity System Operator retains constraint payment data covering every half hour of every day for the last seven years, which are available on request. There is no central record kept to link this data to storms or bad weather.

Energy Efficiency Taskforce

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what policy recommendations her Department received from the energy efficiency taskforce.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Efficiency Taskforce was established to support the Government with its target to reduce total UK energy demand by 15% from 2021 levels by 2030. The Secretary of State, after careful deliberation, concluded that the draft work could be streamlined into other Government activity.

Energy Efficiency Taskforce

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to publish outputs produced by the energy efficiency taskforce.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Efficiency Taskforce was established to support the Government with its target to reduce total UK energy demand by 15% from 2021 levels by 2030. The Secretary of State, after careful deliberation, concluded that the draft work could be streamlined into other Government activity. No finalised document was produced.

Energy Efficiency Taskforce: Public Expenditure

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will have discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of the work of the energy efficiency taskforce on the 2024 Budget.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Efficiency Taskforce concluded in 2023. The Department has regular conversations with the Treasury about energy efficiency.

Electricity Generation: Carbon Emissions

Mrs Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the lifecycle carbon emissions per MWh for generating electricity by (a) burning (i) wood, (ii) coal and (iii) gas and (d) using nuclear energy.

Amanda Solloway: The lifecycle emissions of individual plants depend strongly upon the efficiency of generation, supply chains, production techniques, agricultural practices, and transport distances. Typical values in CO2 equivalents for the UK are Wood: 96 kg/MWh, Coal: 968 kg/MWh, Natural gas: 411 kg/MWh and Nuclear: 12 kg/MWh.

Energy Charter Treaty

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 9353 on Energy Charter Treaty, with which civil society stakeholders she has consulted as part of that review.

Graham Stuart: The UK is considering views from a range of stakeholders to inform its position on the Energy Charter Treaty, including civil society stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations, campaign groups, academia and thinktanks in the environment and development sectors.

Electricity Generation

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 13 of her Department's consultation response, Review of electricity market arrangements: summary of responses, published on 7 March 2023, what progress she has made on next steps.

Graham Stuart: The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA), first announced in April 2022, is a major review into Britain’s electricity market design that will enhance energy security and help to deliver the UK's world-leading climate targets, whilst ensuring a fair deal for consumers. The Government plans to publish a second consultation in early 2024, which will consider a narrower range of options for reform and set out a clear direction of travel for how Great Britain's electricity market arrangements will need to evolve in future. Alongside this consultation, the Government plans to publish an Options Assessment which provides details regarding the analytical frameworks and bespoke analysis that have been produced to support the policy development process.

Electricity: Taxation

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of electricity levies on the uptake of (a) heat pumps and (b) other low carbon heating.

Amanda Solloway: Heat pumps are a widely suitable and cost-effective way to decarbonise heating in our homes. They can already be cheaper to run than a fossil fuel system, particularly where consumers have a sufficiently insulated home and heating systems are designed to operate at the lowest possible flow temperature. Nevertheless, the Government recognises that addressing current distortions in electricity and gas prices is important to make it easier for consumers to switch to low-carbon heating. The Government accepted a recommendation in the 2022 Independent Review of Net Zero to make significant progress on rebalancing of gas and electricity prices by the end of 2024.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the draft Energy National Policy Statements, what assessment she has made of the environmental impact of extending the proposed Critical National Priority presumption to any low carbon energy infrastructure (a) onshore and (b) offshore, including (i) nuclear generation and (ii) nature gas fired generation which is carbon capture ready.

Andrew Bowie: The Department has published an Appraisal of Sustainability of the National Policy Statements. The Appraisal of Sustainability provides an assessment of Critical National Priority under several headline themes, including the natural environment, and includes proposed monitoring to examine the effects predicted through the Appraisal of Sustainability against the actual effects of the National Policy Statements when they are implemented. The published Post Adoption Statement also addresses amendments to the National Policy Statements that have been informed by the Appraisal of Sustainability findings.

Offshore Industry: North Sea

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of the introduction of quotas for domestic use of new North Sea (i) oil and (ii) gas.

Graham Stuart: I refer the hon Member to the answer given on 6 December 2023 to the hon Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Lloyd Russell-Moyle) to Question UIN 4233.

Energy: Conferences

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many officials are working on the London Energy Security Conference; and what estimate she has made of the total time spent by officials preparing for the conference.

Andrew Bowie: Four officials are working on conference planning, amongst other international energy priorities. As such, it is not possible to isolate the time spent on conference planning.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what targets her Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.

Graham Stuart: The Government set out how it would meet its commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021, which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors in the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of 'Powering Up Britain'. The UK has halved its emissions, ahead of every other major economy, and its economy has grown by over 70% since 1990. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that it is on track to meet the third. The UK has one of the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in the world, and has set more stretching targets for 2030 than most countries. The UK plans to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, which is more than the EU, Japan or the United States.

Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill on the UK's ability to deliver on its commitments in the Climate Change Act 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 was passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly and applies only in Northern Ireland. As set out in the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill's impact assessment, in the long term, it is not expected that total production emissions from the sector will be impacted by the introduction of a duty on the North Sea Transition Authority to invite applications for seaward production licences. The approach set out in the Bill is therefore consistent with the commitments set out in the Climate Change Act 2008, which applies throughout the United Kingdom.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Total Allowable Catches: Cornwall

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) economic and (b) social impact of the reduction in total allowable catch for pollock to zero on the (i) Cornish under ten-metre fishing fleet and (ii) port of Mevagissey.

Mark Spencer: On 30 June 2023 the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas issued zero-catch advice for pollack 6 and 7 for the first time. In the annual UK-EU negotiations on fishing opportunities, our approach to negotiating catch limits is based on the best available scientific advice, balanced with commitments to economic sustainability and providing opportunities for the UK fleet, consistent with the objectives of the Fisheries Act and Joint Fisheries Statement. We are aware of the significant potential implications of a zero-catch fishery for pollack. In line with our approach to other zero-advice stocks, we negotiated with the EU a bycatch-only TAC of 823 tonnes for pollack in area 7 (925 tonnes for 6 and 7). This should cover unavoidable bycatch needs for Celtic Sea netters and trawlers and enable this large part of the UK fleet to continue participating in other fisheries. We recognise that this bycatch TAC will not address some critical needs for certain industry sectors that target pollack. This is informed by initial economic assessments of the value of the fishery and the importance of this fishery to different groups such as ports in Cornwall and under ten-metre vessels, including those using handlines. Officials have also met with industry representatives and heard directly from those affected about the potential social and economic impacts of a zero-catch fishery. We are continuing to explore potential actions that could be taken to mitigate the impact to this sector. With respect to further detail on what support is available to fishers, we will soon be reopening the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme, which is currently closed for applications. The scheme supports a variety of measures, including diversification and new forms of income. We will be providing more information on plans for reopening later this month. We will also continue to work closely with industry on the longer-term management of pollack, to support its recovery.

Aquaculture: Shellfish

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the shellfish aquaculture industry.

Mark Spencer: Since 2021, the Government has awarded £22.3 million to support the shellfish aquaculture industry in areas such as improving sustainability, preventing shellfish disease, and better skills and training.The Government's Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan prioritises action to improve the water quality of 63 of the largest shellfish waters in England by 2030.The Government continues to challenge the EU's restrictions on undepurated Class B live bivalve molluscs which we believe are unjustified and disproportionate to the risk under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to reply to the correspondence of (a) 1 September 2023, (b) 2 October 2023, (c) 30 November 2023 and (d) 11 January 2024 from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay relating to a constituent, case number JB43004.

Mark Spencer: A response to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued in due course. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Dementia: Research

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to ensure that female patients are included in (a) medical research and (b) clinical trials for (i) dementia and (ii) early on-set Alzheimer's disease funded by her Department.

Andrew Griffith: UKRI, through the Medical Research Council is working to ensure that female patients are included in medical research and clinical trials for all conditions, including by instituting a requirement for both sexes to be included in research studies by default. MRC's embedding diversity in research design policy requires researchers to consider characteristics such as gender, age and ethnicity - as well as sex - in their projects. MRC is working with the MESSAGE (Medical Science Sex and Gender Equality) initiative to co-design a sex and gender policy framework which could guide organisations throughout the health and biomedical research sector.

Women and Equalities

Employment: Discrimination

Angela Crawley: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of LGBT discrimination in the workplace; and what steps her Department is taking to mitigate such discrimination.

Stuart Andrew: It is crucial that we ensure people are treated fairly in the workplace, so that everyone can thrive and reach their full potential, whatever their background or characteristics, including LGBT people. The Equality Act 2010 provides one of the world’s strongest legislative frameworks to prevent and tackle discrimination and harassment in employment against those with particular protected characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender reassignment. As part of our Inclusive Britain strategy, published in March 2022, we launched an Inclusion at Work Panel last year aimed at helping employers achieve fairness and inclusion in the workplace.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Girlguiding UK

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support Girlguiding UK and (b) develop links overseas with similar ventures.

Stuart Andrew: The Government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people. We have committed to a National Youth Guarantee: that by 2025, every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer. This is supported by a three year investment of over £500 million in youth services, reflecting young people's priorities and addressing the inconsistencies in national youth spending, with a firm focus on levelling up.As part of the National Youth Guarantee, we are investing over £16 million in Uniformed Youth Organisations, including Girlguiding, to ensure all young people have access to these groups by establishing new groups in areas without existing provision, and tackling waiting lists.Additionally, this Government is committed to protecting the United Kingdom’s core national interests, ensuring the prosperity of the British people across the Overseas Territories. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, alongside colleagues in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, is engaging in ongoing discussions with representatives of the British Overseas Territories and Girlguiding UK on options for the continuation of Girlguiding in the Territories.